Where the Konoha Dance
by Wubbie
Summary: Uzumaki Naruto is on the last legs of his journey to become Hokage. Throughout many battles with Akatsuki and the Fourth Great Shinobi Wars, Naruto emerges as the most powerful ninja in history. Manga and Anime spoilers... NaruHina, SasuSaku, ShikaTema
1. VOLUME ONE: LEAF AND SAND

"**Where the Konoha Dance…"**

by Wubbie

**A Preview of Volume One: Leaf and Sand**

The Shinobi World is shaken as the Cloud's Raikage is brutally assasinated, prompting the beginning of the Fourth Great Shinobi Wars. As each nation readies itself for the coming war, alliances are formed and friends are made. Can the Hidden Villages of Konoha and Suna stand together against the might of the Cloud and Stone? And who is this young blonde-haired ninja that is quickly climbing up the ranks of Konoha? As Uzumaki Naruto makes his way toward his dream of being Hokage, a mysterious ninja finds her way into the Leaf and begins to fog the once sunny village.

Author's Note:

The plot of this story chronicles the end of Naruto's journey toward Hokage and the biggest war to hit the ninja world… ever. I don't know exactly what will happen quite yet, but I want it to be an epic fic with considerable length…. Like some of the other great authors on that I have yet to read. My storytelling may not be the best out there, but I'll try and improve all the time.

It'll be mostly action and adventure, but try to stay as realistic and similar to Kishimoto's manga… Though I'll try to move at a bit of a faster pace and less flashbacks. And if I kill off a character you like, I apologize. I'm just trying to move the plot along.

I plan to have pairings. Mostly Naru/Hina, Sasu/Saku, Shika/Tema, Lee/Ten, Chouji/Ino… Some will be blatant like Shikamaru and Temari, but I won't try to make the romance a central plot device. I'll admit that I don't have as much experience with romance in my own life as I would like, so I probably wouldn't touch on it too much so I don't do something unrealistic.

I'm going to try to stay faithful to what I believe has made Naruto great… Warm, peaceful, and even comical times with friends in Konoha… But seriousness in battle… And determination on Naruto's part, willing himself toward Hokage.

And for spoilers, I'm warning you that I'm trying to stay as faithful to the series as possible. I stay up to date with the MANGA and at the time it's being written. The RAW on Chapter 266 is just coming out. I'm going to try and make the stories match up to the best of my creativity, so don't read it if you don't wanna be spoiled… but don't be too upset if you're a purist and something doesn't seem right. Simply just e-mail or leave a comment if something doesn't seem right or logical.

I'm not a perfect writer and I'm still trying to get better. So any helpful suggestions, please give me your input..

Enough with the lame author's note that few people read and up with the first chapter!

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go… J


	2. C1: The Fifth’s Fifth Birthday

"**Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: The system I use for time is based off a thread on Narutofan (http/forums. Everything is predicated upon the attack on Kyuubi.

**Chapter One: The Fifth's Fifth Birthday Dilemma**

_**Year: 19 AK (19 years After Kyuubi attack)**_

Naruto yawned lazily as he got up from bed and stretched. Scratching his head, he looked at the calendar on the wall. One date was circled with a red marker. '_September 7,' _Naruto thought to himself with a blank expression on his face. Then it dawned on him what today was. Today was the day! Today was one of the most important days of his life. It was not just a day of celebration for the Hidden Village of Konoha and its Godaime, Tsunade-sama. But it was the day in which Tsunade would announce the five candidates for the title of the Sixth Hokage.

Naruto showered as he began to think excitedly to himself. After all those years of hard work, it would soon pay off. The citizens of his beloved village would soon see what many of his friends had grown to seen over the years.

Naruto was different from most of the villagers in Konoha. Not only did he have the brightest yellow hair and the most exuberant spirit in Konoha, but also inside him was a terrible monster. The villagers would hate him for it, but Naruto would change their minds one by one through his determination and will.

Peering into his closet, he grabbed his favorite outfit on a hangar. It was an orange jacket with black coloring near the part of his upper body. He looked at the mirror and laughed, remembering the look of surprise from his friends when he returned to the village three years ago. Many of the girls were impressed, especially Hyuuga Hinata, but Naruto was completely oblivious at the time. The young man had grown and stood at a height of 6"2', but still retained his childlike excitement. Deciding not to wear his Jounin vest, Naruto put on his forehead protector and the necklace he had gotten from 'Granny Tsunade.'

Speeding out the door, Naruto sped to the outskirts of town to meet Iruka. Although the festival had been planned for weeks, they still needed to get the giant cakes that were to be brought to the Ninja Administration Building. There would be four particularly large cakes, so Iruka asked Naruto to come by and help him. When he got there, Naruto saw Iruka paying a man for a couple fairly large boxes.

"Hey Iruka-sensei!" Naruto called out.

"Oh hey, Naruto! Thanks for coming by to help me out this morning." Iruka replied and gave him a warm smile.

Naruto looked around and observed his surroundings. They were at the very edge of Konoha's commercial districts and right next to Jiraiya's favorite hot springs. Naruto grinned and picked up two of the boxes. They were so large on top of one another that he could barely see over the top. Meanwhile, Iruka picked up the other two.

"No problem, but why couldn't we have just put these in a scroll and summoned them later?" Naruto asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to summon food. Plus, there are joys in life such as these simple tasks. Maybe when you're my age, you'll know what I mean." Iruka said good-naturedly.

"You're probably right. But I always summon ramen whenever I'm hungry! I just go to Ichiraku and ask Ayame to get it to go. Then I just seal it!" Naruto chattered as Iruka laughed to himself.

"How much money do you spend on ramen anyway, Naruto? Didn't I tell you that you needed to eat things other than that?"

"I know! Kaka-sensei tells me the same thing, but I can't stop myself. I think Hinata is getting mad that we're always eating there." Naruto laughed as he passed by some of the stores.

Everyone looked so peaceful that day. There had been so much commotion the past couple years, so Naruto was glad that the village was relatively tranquil in the last few months. Iruka smiled at his old student. He remembered when he first took Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen seven years ago.

"By the way, how are you and Hinata doing?"

"Oh we're great! It'll be our ninth month in a week. But I don't know what we're going to do."

"Better think of something. She'll be upset with you if you just go to Ichiraku again." Iruka chided. "But Naruto… Have you considered… erm…?"

"What, Iruka-sensei?"

"Well, even though you two are very young, the life of a ninja can be cut short any time," Iruka lectured.

"Oh! Well, umm. I-I…" Naruto stammered just like his girlfriend used to when they were younger, turning very red. "I don't know. We haven't even been together for a year. Do you think we're rea-"?

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, he quickly jumped out of the way of something. Despite not having 360-degree vision like his friend, Neji, he could still sense the presence of a rampaging bull headed straight for his backside,

"What the!" Iruka yelled as he chased after a running Naruto. Naruto glanced back at Iruka and the bull behind him. He continued to run for his life, holding the two boxes of cake to his chest as people ran out of the way.

"Look out! Look out!" Naruto would yell to villagers in his way. He looked behind him again and remembered why the ball was chasing him. It was the bull that chased him years ago at the first Chuunin Exams!

"Run Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted as they ran for their lives. Like what had happened many years ago, dozens of other bulls followed in pursuit of Naruto with the lead bull.

The two of them ran through the streets of Konoha, knocking over people in their way as bulls rammed into various tables and stands.

"That damn Naruto!" Angry villagers would call out, while others simply laughed in amusement.

They weren't too far off from the Ninja Administration Building. Hopefully, the other ninja would be able to help because Naruto didn't want to hurt the rampaging bulls.

"What did you do, Naruto!" Iruka screamed at him. Iruka was starting to tire and cursed himself for bringing Naruto instead of one of the other Chuunins.

Up ahead, they saw Shikamaru in front of the Administration Building. He was holding a clipboard, while surveying the work around him. Shikamaru had become one of Konoha's top analysts over the years and often worked with Tsunade and the ANBU captains. This year, the elders decided that he would coordinate the festival, much to his dismay.

"Oi Naruto! Iruka! You two got here pretty quickly. I didn't expe-" Shikamaru started.

"Get out of the way, Shikamaru!" Naruto blurted as Shikamaru saw a giant cloud of dust trailing behind them. It was a herd of rampaging bulls!

"Jeez. I hate my job. This is so troublesome," he muttered as he performed a few seals and shouted, "_Kage Mane no Jutsu!_"

In an instant, Shikamaru's shadow writhed and made a beeline for the bulls. The bulls halted in their tracks as Shikamaru struggled to keep them from going any further. Naruto and Iruka let out sighs of relief.

"Thanks, Shikamaru. We knew we could count on you," Naruto said, giving him the thumbs up.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen; go get Kiba and Shino inside. They'll know what to do with these bulls."

In the street, people were murmuring, "Wow"s and "Amazing"s as they saw maybe thirty of forty bulls being held in place by Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation technique.

Unfortunately…

"_KAMAITACHI!_" rang out from a voice, perhaps a block away. Before Shikamaru could dodge, the gust of wind hit him and he flew back ten feet.

As Shikamaru lost control of the Shadow Imitation, the bulls were let free and continued to run straight at Naruto and Iruka.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the two screamed as everything turned into chaos. Cake, streamers, balloons, and forty bulls were all apart of the mayhem that was in front of the Ninja Administration Center.

And the only thing that the female Sand kunoichi was, "Oops."

**An hour later… **

"You two are so lucky that I was around." Sakura said to her three patients cheerfully. Shikamaru, Naruto, and Iruka were all lying on the street in front of the Administration Center. Kiba and Akamaru were shepherding the last of the bulls away, while Temari looked at Shikamaru with a sheepish look on her face.

It was a habit of Temari to randomly blow a gust of wind at Shikamaru. The Sand-nin was in Konoha so often that it become like a second home to her. And Shikamaru was the one she hung around with most. Shikamaru truthfully enjoyed her company, but found it too troublesome to show it. The two often got into arguments and various fights. (They weren't really considered fights but rather, Temari using her Cutting Wind Technique on a defenseless Shikamaru.)

"Sorry about that. I didn't know that lazy bum was actually doing something for a change." Temari said brightly.

Shikamaru glared at her, but decided not to argue. He was enjoying himself, lying on the ground and looking at the clouds.

"It's okay! We've needed some excitement. These past couple days have been slow. Granny Tsunade keeps giving me D-rank missions." Naruto complained, drawing smiles from everyone around him. He was completely covered from head to toe in cake.

"But Naruto-kun. You're all sticky. I'll help you out." Temari offered, pulling out her fan again.

"No. Let me." a monotonous voice muttered softly as a low-level water attack was launched at Naruto. Naruto was drenched and his normally unruly hair was now flattened, covering his eyes. But he knew exactly who it was.

"SASUKE! YOU BASTARD!" Naruto growled, jumping toward a young man, perched upon a rooftop.

"_Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!_" Sasuke muttered and a small ball of flame immersed Naruto. It wasn't a very powerful attack. It didn't even singe Naruto's clothes.

"Hey! I'm all dry now! Get down here, Sasuke! So I can kick your ass!" Naruto called out.

Sakura sighed. "What idiots."

"Can't. I have to go and see Kakashi right now." Sasuke said. "I'll see you guys at the festival."

Without another word, Sasuke leapt from rooftop to rooftop and soon disappeared from sight. Naruto smiled inwardly, but kept an appearance of annoyance on his face.

Naruto remembered when they brought Sasuke back to Konoha three years ago. ANBU was about to put him to death, but Naruto was able to convince Tsunade-sama to allow him to live. Sasuke was put under house arrest and probation… with Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi as his probation officers. About six months later, Tsunade lifted his probation.

"I'm going to go home and change." Shikamaru said. "Can you cover for me for a little, Sakura?"

"Yeah, I got it. Most of the stuff is done though."

"Wait for me!" Temari called and ran after him. Shikamaru turned around with an annoyed look on his face. Naruto swore he saw him grin for a split second.

"Well, I'm going to go change too!" Iruka announced brightly. "Thanks for helping me out today, Naruto. I really appreciate it."

"Okay! Bye, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said. He and Sakura went to go sit inside the Ninja Administration Center. It was still a little too hot outside, so they opted for a cooler air-conditioned place with chairs and tables. Naruto and Sakura sat down at one of the tables, while Naruto took a scroll off from within his jacket and summoned a meal, large enough for fifty people.

"Want some ramen, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. Sakura looked at Naruto's so-called "meal." She shook her head in disgust when the fifty bowls and plates were all filled with only ramen.

"Idiot Naruto. You're going to get sick, always eating ramen. You're seriously going to die if you keep eating like that." Sakura scolded.

"It's okay! Hinata puts rice and vegetables in my ramen when I've eaten all the beef and noodles." Naruto said brightly.

Sakura sighed, took a bowl and chopsticks, and said, "If you say so."

The two of them sat contentedly in the Administration Center. Sakura had grown to be more civil with Naruto as they grew older. Plus, the fact that he was gone for two years made Sakura miss her friend a lot more. She never considered Naruto romantically because of Sasuke, but loved him just the same… as a brother, of course. Besides, it didn't matter since he had Hinata.

"So has Granny Tsunade gotten any progress with the Hidden Village of Stone?" Naruto asked while slurping up more ramen.

"You are going to get in trouble one day if you keep calling her that. Watch it, Naruto. She might make Chouji the Hokage just to crush you." Sakura teased.

"No way! There's no way that Granny Tsunade would pick anyone else but me to be the Hokage!" Naruto piped. "Me! Master of the Kage Bunshin! The creator of the Sexy Technique! The Tamer of Rasengan! The Conqueror of the Hiraishin no Jutsu!"

"You liar! You haven't learned the Hiraishin no Jutsu! Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama said that you can only do it if the target is five feet away!" Sakura pointed out.

"Well! I WILL conquer that technique! That's my way of the ninja! I won't turn away because I'm Uzumaki Naruto… the –"

"-the ninja with the loudest mouth and penchant for getting himself into the most trouble." interrupted an older man's voice.

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto exclaimed. _'Why do these people keep popping in and surprising me? I thought I was the most surprising and unpredictable ninja in Konoha?'_

"What are you two kids up to?" Jiraiya asked, ignoring Naruto calling him Ero-sennin. He'd given up a long time ago with correcting him.

"Just relaxing here, Jiraiya-sama. All the preparations for the festival are pretty much done. How about you?" Sakura said.

"I was just here, discussing something with Tsunade." Jiraiya said. He looked at the table and grimaced. '_More ramen, Naruto? You're going to get yourself sick.'_

"Are you going to be there when she announces I am the first candidate for Hokage, Ero-sennin?" Naruto exclaimed with his mouth full of ramen.

"Of course, of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world. I just finished writing the next issue for my book and sent the manuscript to the publishers yesterday. Do you want to give this copy to my number one fan, Kakashi?" Jiraiya said, pulling out a book from his robes.

Sakura looked at the book that he handed Naruto. '_Icha Icha Paradise! Volume 122: Day at the Hospital!'_ Sakura read.

"Did you put in the guest chapter that I wrote, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked with a glimmer in his eyes.

"Yes I did, Naruto! It was brilliant my young apprentice. You are truly worthy of being my successor. I have taught you well. You have so much potential at such a young age! I loved the sketches that you made as well!" Jiraiya added. Naruto and Jiraiya began to laugh in a way that only two perverted men could.

Sakura fumed. She had to get a look at that book later! What if it had something about her or her friends! She looked at Naruto, startled. He was still the same as he'd ever been. But his level of perversion was through the roof now that he was older. Sakura felt a wave of pity for Hinata. Sakura made a mental note to look at the book later as Naruto placed it in his jacket.

"Okay you two. I'm off! I have more research to do if I want to get my next volume done by next month." Jiraiya announced as he strode out of the room.

"Bye Ero-sennin!" Naruto waved, as he turned to look at Sakura. "Well, I'm done. Do you want to head over to Kaka-sensei's, right now?"

"Okay. Let's go!" Sakura said a little too excitedly. With a poof, the ramen that Naruto had summoned disappeared.

"I've never actually been in Kaka-sensei's house before. Have you?"

"Me neither. I wonder what it looks like. I bet it's really boring and plain." Naruto said as they left the Center and started walking through the village. The walk wouldn't be too long. It was perhaps maybe only a minute or two.

'_So that's why Naruto and Jiraiya came to the hospital last month!' _Sakura said to herself. Naruto began to feel a presence within Sakura, but he didn't know what it was.

"_STUPID NARUTO!'_ Inner Sakura screamed to herself, clenching her mental fists. '_I'm going to kill you if there's anything about me in there!'_

They soon got to the building that housed many of Konoha's Jounin. Jounins were paid very well for their work, but a lot of them were single bachelors. Gai, Asuma, Raido, Genma, and Kakashi all had a room somewhere in this building. They had the money to buy a larger house, but didn't feel the need because as shinobi, they didn't have much time in their homes anyway. So they figured, why waste money? Well, all of them did except for Gai. Gai just wanted to be able to find Kakashi in case he needed to prove his superiority on a whim.

With a knock, Naruto announced, "Kaka-sensei! It's Naruto and Sakura-chan! We have something for you!"

"Yo! Come on in you guys!" a voice said from the door.

"Ready?" Naruto asked Sakura. She nodded as they prepared themselves for Kakashi's apartment. It was the first time they had seen it in the seven years that they knew him. Sasuke had seen it a couple years ago and had told them that it was simply a room with a couple bookshelves, a bed, and a window, but they weren't prepared for the change that the room had gone through over the years.

When the door opened, they were blinded from the light emitted through the window. As their eyes adjusted, Naruto and Sakura had mixed thoughts about Kakashi's room.

"This is…" they both began.

"…AMAZING!" Naruto exclaimed.

"…WEIRD!" Sakura exclaimed.

The room was _FULL_ of Come Come Paradise merchandise! Everything about Kakashi's room was memorabilia from Jiraiya's hit book series. Kakashi's bed sheets were covered with a picture of a man chasing a woman who featured full cleavage. The curtains on his window looked faintly like Naruto when he was doing his Sexy no Jutsu. There were strange figurines littered across Kakashi's nightstand and he even had a poster of the Come Come Paradise movie, signed by Fujimi Yukie and Jiraiya.

But the best, (or worst, according to Sakura), was the giant bookshelf right next to Kakashi's bed and nightstand. In it, was every single novel of the Come Come Paradise book series. All 121 issues! He even had Come Come Paradise bookends.

Sakura slowly backed away a little bit. Inner Sakura raged with well… rage. '_WHAT THE HELL IS THIS! KAKA-SENSEI IS A FREAK!_"

As they marveled, or disapproved, of the room, they heard a toilet flush as Kakashi exited his bathroom.

"Yo! What's up you guys?" Kakashi asked. He was still the same as ever. Tall, spiky gray hair… Dark navy blue mask.. Jounin vest… Dark pants and sleeves.

Kakashi sniffed at the air. '_More ramen, Naruto? You are seriously going to die if you keep eating like that.'_

"Kaka-sensei! Nice place!" Naruto said as Kakashi smiled appreciatively. "Jiraiya said to give you this!"

The moment the book was taken from his jacket, Kakashi snatched it from his old student's hands and began to put his nose in it.

"THANK YOU NARUTO!" Kakashi said appreciatively.

"I wrote one of the chapters, myself!" Naruto announced proudly. "The first chapter, actually."

"Really? That's great, Naruto. I like how it starts off in the hospital rather than the hot springs this time. Did you make up this character too? Sakuran?" Kakashi asked, still immersed in the book.

At that moment, Sakura lost all self-control as Inner Sakura got out! Using her Tsunade-like superhuman strength, Sakura punched both Naruto and Kakashi out of the window. But not before grabbing the book from Kakashi.

'_HELL YEAH!'_ Inner Sakura exclaimed to herself as she began to read. As seconds passed, she began to get more and more angry…

'…_Pink-haired nurse… Giant forehead... Giant … Nurse Sakuran… Nurse Shizuna… Doctor Tsonode…" _Sakura read…

"_Naruto is dead…_" Sakura said as she burst out the window toward the two ninjas that had been thrown out only seconds ago.

_**And the Festival Begins! **_

The festival began when the sun looked like it was about to set, late in the afternoon. Naruto split up from Kakashi and Sakura to change. He had a date with Hinata tonight and he had to look his best.

Unfortunately, Sakura had given both Naruto and Kakashi a black eye. Fortunately for Kakashi, it was the Sharingan eye that was covered up anyway. Naruto was not as lucky. Normally a medical ninja could fix it up very quickly, but Sakura refused to help. What's worse was that Naruto and Jiraiya were officially banned from ever coming to the hospital unless they were seriously injured or they had permission from Tsunade.

"Stupid Sakura-chan." Naruto muttered as he left his house and toward the festival. Hinata would probably be able to help him since she knew basic medical jutsus. Naruto looked around and saw Hinata waiting at the corner. He wasn't too sure since he only saw her from the back.

Naruto began to walk up and when he was eight feet away, the figure said, "There you are, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto was confused for a second but then remembered her name. '_I'm such an idiot. **HYUUGA HINATA**. Of course she can see me from behind.' _Naruto thought to himself.

She turned around and the two ran to each other. Naruto hugged Hinata as they shared an embrace. Naruto looked at Hinata up and down. She certainly looked pretty that evening.

Hinata was wearing a set of navy blue robes with black trim. The robes were sleeveless, however, and only reached down slightly above the knee. She had fishnets on her left arm and her right leg while her left knee was taped up. Naruto kept looking at certain… forbidden.. areas, trying to be inconspicuous. But Hinata's Byakugan and her own intuition exposed him. She didn't say anything though since she knew he was a pervert like his senseis.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked softly as she lead him over to a bench by the park.

"Oh. Sakura got mad because she read Jiraiya's book." Naruto said sheepishly.

Hinata smiled lightly. "I told you that you shouldn't have written that, Naruto-kun. So what happened?"

The two of them sat in the park and talked quietly for awhile. The two were an interesting pair. When Naruto was with Hinata, he was a much more calm and gentle person, rather than the loud, obnoxious person that he normally was. But when Hinata was with Naruto, she became a bit more daring. Hinata was and will always be a shy person, but she no longer lacked the confidence to do anything. Already she had proved herself to her father that she was a capable heir to the Hyuuga clan. Times were changing though and it didn't seem that she would need to carry the burden of being the heir to the Hyuuga clan. That honor most likely would fall to her cousin, Hyuuga Neji.

Naruto was very pleased to spend some time with Hinata that day. He hadn't seen her for a few days because simply put… her father didn't let her out. The Hyuuga were very strict about what Hinata could and couldn't do because she was still their heir, regardless of the changes going on now. Hinata's gentle ways were comforting for Naruto's hectic lifestyle and he loved to tell her what was on his mind. In fact, even before they were dating, Hinata was the only person he could be totally honest with and actually admit that he had fears. With everyone else, he maintained a level of assurance and confidence. Only to Hinata did he truly show his humility.

Hinata had always felt that having Naruto around made her stronger and she was right. When they did get together, she vastly improved. Her superiors at ANBU noticed and had casual talk about promoting her to captain. Of course, she still needed more time, but it was a good sign.

"Let me heal your eye, Naruto-kun." Hinata said. "You don't want to look like you just got in a fight in front of everyone."

"Thanks Hinata." Naruto said as he lay down so Hinata could heal his eye. Hinata's touch was very gentle and Naruto loved it. In fact, he was starting to get into the same mood that he was in when him and Jiraiya went to 'gather inspiration' at the hospital. '_NO! I can't think of that right now!'_ Naruto thought to himself. As he struggled with his perverted side, Hinata kissed him on the lips.

"All better." she said as they began to roll around on the grass in the park.

Meanwhile, somewhere down the street, another couple was arguing about something.

".. I can not believe you!" Temari yelled angrily. "You're an insensitive jerk, you know that?"

Shikamaru knew he was in deep trouble now. He didn't even know what she was mad about. As much as he hated to be in an argument with a woman, he felt some kind of contentedness to be bossed around by her.

"What did I do?" Shikamaru asked. He knew this was going to piss her off even more. '_Jeez. Why did I even ask that?_' Shikamaru said to himself.

Temari turned red and screamed, walking off. "You are such a jerk!"

"Wait!" Shikamaru said, chasing after her.

"Looks like Shikamaru's in trouble now!" Chouji said, watching the scene from a stand with his friend, Ino.

Chouji had remained the same over the past few years. He still ate a lot. He was still fat, or rather, big-boned, as he told people. Ino, on the other hand, was a bit different. She wore a longer purple dress, but no longer taped up her thighs. Her sensei, Morino Ibiki, had advised not to look like an actual ninja. Ino was training under Ibiki in ANBU's torture and interrogation squad. She was working more towards perfecting her spy skills, but Ibiki felt she would be an expert in his field of human psychology as well.

"I wonder what he did." Ino wondered aloud. "I'll find out from Temari later."

Temari and Ino had become quite good friends over time. They both shared a habit of bossing Shikamaru around, though Ino didn't have the same romantic interest that Temari had with Shikamaru.

"Who do you think will be announced for being a Hokage candidate?" Chouji asked, with his mouth stuffed with food.

"I don't know. I'm thinking maybe Neji or Sasuke. Those two are the strongest at our age right now, I think. I heard Tsunade-sama wanted to get younger candidates and train them earlier so that they would be Hokage for awhile."

"What about Naruto?"

"Probably. He's been dreaming of being Hokage since he was a kid. It'd be a shame if he weren't a candidate. I haven't seen him in action. He was out of the village with Jiraiya and I've been busy lately. He's probably a lot stronger though." Ino said, as they turned their attention to Naruto and Hinata, who were lying in the grass, just watching the sun set on Konoha.

"**ATTENTION! THE CANDIDATES FOR THE TITLE OF SIXTH HOKAGE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY BY TSUNADE-SAMA! WILL THE CANDIDATES PLEASE MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE ROOF OF THE NINJA ADMINISTRATION CENTER?"** a loud voice rang out from the center of town. It was most likely Shizune using a jutsu to amplify the sounds coming from her vocal chords.

The candidates had all been informed of their selection a week beforehand. Naruto was very pleased when Jiraiya lead him to Tsunade's office and he was told. He was not to tell anyone because such news was to be a great surprise for the village of Konoha. (Though he DID tell Hinata) Tsunade refused to tell Naruto who the other ones because that information was to be kept secret as well. Nobody but Tsunade knew who all of the candidates were… and perhaps Jiraiya.

Asuma and Kurenai were relaxing at one of the benches in front of the restaurant. The years had been kind to them as they were the same as they always were. Asuma still smoked his cigarettes, while Kurenai was still as beautiful as ever.

"There's Tsunade-sama!" Asuma pointed out, as the Godaime appeared to address the village.

"It's about time!" Kurenai said cheerfully.

The village of Konoha clapped and cheered for their Hokage. The past five years had been a rocky time for them, but she had lead Konoha through a period of hardship with a strong will. Tsunade beamed at all of them.

"I don't want to keep you all waiting any longer, so I won't waste my time with a boring speech. I just wanted to tell you all that I have been very proud to serve as this village's Hokage!" Tsunade announced. The crowds cheered even more. "But now it's the moment that a lot of you have been waiting for. I will announce the candidates for the Hidden Village of Konoha's next Hokage. When I announce them, they will appear and show their faces to you all."

Everyone waited quietly. This was a monumental event and it would be something that they would want to remember for a long time. The announcement of the Fourth's candidacy was still fresh in the minds of many, but it would later be forgotten for some because of his sacrifice a short time later. The Fifth never really was announced because she was chosen on short term. So whoever the Sixth would be was getting something truly special. They had the opportunity to grow and bloom before the eyes of his or her village.

"The first candidate… KONOHAMARU!" Tsunade announced proudly. Many of the villagers cheered. Konohamaru was their beloved Third Hokage's grandson and was turning into a fine shinobi. When he appeared, he was met with thunderous applause.

"The second candidate… WASABI LEI!" The applause for this ninja wasn't quite as high. The truth was that he wasn't that well known. Kurenai looked at him with an interested look on her face.

"I remember that kid! He fought with Naruto when Naruto took the Chuunin exam again. He was only 11 at the time, but he's extremely talented in Genjutsu. He has a bright future." Kurenai said.

"I don't really remember much from that fight. Didn't Naruto wipe the floor with him?" Asuma said with a chuckle as the 14 year old boy appeared. He was an interesting looking shinobi. He covered his mouth and nose with a mask like Kakashi but wore a headband similar to Hyuuga Neji's.

"The third candidate… UCHIHA SASUKE!" A loud murmur swept the crowd. Many villagers were not sure of this decision. A lot had heard about his abandoning of the village several years ago. Plus the fact that he was the last Uchiha in Konoha perked a lot of interest.

"That was surprising. I don't know what Hokage-sama is thinking." Asuma said.

"She probably has a reason." Kurenai said.

"The fourth candidate… AOI KINTARO!" There was quite a lot of applause this time. The applause was mostly from the female population of the village. When he appeared, various screams from the women ensued. Aoi Kintaro was indeed, very good-looking, and very well built. Not only that, it was rumored that his clan was related to Hatake Kakashi, perhaps the most eligible bachelor in Konoha.

"I wonder who the last one is." Asuma said out loud. He didn't really care for Kintaro because he found him to be very self-centered.

"Don't be stupid. There's only one person who it could be, Asuma." Kurenai said, casting an eye at the park.

"The fifth candidate…" Tsunade said with a pleased note in her voice. The whole of Konoha waited with daunting apprehension. "The fifth candidate is… UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

If the loud murmurs throughout the crowd were one thing for Sasuke, then the murmurs from the crowd for Naruto were very well varied. About half were cheering as if their lives depended upon it. On the other hand, the other half was booing loudly with displeasure. "The demon fox! What is Hokage-sama thinking?" a loud, obnoxious man said. "Don't worry! Kintaro won't let _him_ become Hokage!" a girl said arrogantly.

However, many of the Jounin and the Rookie Nine were affronted by this and spoke feverishly to anyone who would listen about Naruto's great deeds. Even Kakashi, who was a very stoic and quiet person, was trying to convince people that Naruto was an excellent choice for Hokage.

"Again! UZUMAKI NARUTO!" Tsunade said impatiently. Everyone looked up, confused. When they looked up, they realized it was because Naruto was not up with Tsunade and the other candidates.

Ino, Chouji, Asuma, and Kurenai turned their heads to the direction of the park. Naruto and Hinata were still in there! Shamelessly making out, no doubt about it.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO! IF YOU DO NOT COME UP HERE NOW, I WILL FORFEIT YOUR RIGHT TO BECOME HOKAGE EVER!' Tsunade yelled angrily.

With that, Naruto and Hinata emerged, running out from the park as everyone in Konoha started at them.

"Go Naruto-kun!" Hinata urged, panicked.

Naruto continued to run and he even practiced the Body Flicker technique that Sasuke had taught him a couple years ago. Leaves enveloped around Naruto's body and were lit aflame as he disappeared and reappeared by Tsunade's side.

"Where the heck were you?" Tsunade asked. Naruto was only able to let out a nervous chuckle.

"You're forehead protector is upside down, Naruto nii-chan." Konohamaru said, laughing to himself.

And with that, the whole village of Konoha burst into laughter as a certain yellow-haired young man and a dark-haired girl with white eyes turned red with embarrassment.


	3. C2: Hiraishin no Jutsu

"**Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Two: The S-Rank Jutsu! Hiraishin no Jutsu!**

_**Year: 19 AK (19 years After Kyuubi attack)**_

"No. That is wrong, Naruto. Go do it again." Jiraiya said, glancing at his young pupil. He then returned to spying on the girls in the hot springs.

Naruto didn't complain nor bad-mouth Jiraiya and continued his work on Hiraishin no Jutsu, the technique created by the Fourth Hokage. Naruto had come a long way since he first started training with Jiraiya. At first, he had had an imperfect Rasengan, but with an extra push, he mastered the technique within another week. Naruto let out a sigh of exasperation. He had been trying to master this technique for five months and was only able to go five feet.

The technique was a branch of the summoning technique. It took awhile for Naruto to perfect _that_ technique too! But Naruto was able to manage. He was able to summon any frog without any sort of complication now.

Naruto had had so much trouble trying to learn this technique in the beginning. Not only was it extremely difficult, but also he had never truly seen it in action. The truth was that Jiraiya himself wasn't able to do it. Jiraiya could barely explain the theory of it himself because he had only seen it a few times. Though he felt ashamed that he couldn't even explain the theory, he knew it was essential that Naruto be able to learn this technique. With Naruto's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the technique could make the playing field against Akatsuki to a point where Naruto could defeat them all on his own. Only Naruto's endless charka supply and stamina could allow him to do this.

In order to solve the problem, Jiraiya asked the only person he knew that had the potential to do the jutsu. He called Copy Ninja Kakashi. Kakashi had seen the Fourth Hokage do the jutsu multiple times and had even copied it with his Sharingan. The problem was that Kakashi had never tried it himself and was quite sure that he did not fit the requirements to be able to do the technique. Knowing that it was a dangerous thing to try and do, Kakashi showed Naruto how to do it.

"Naruto, this technique requires two steps to complete it. The first is the easy part. You need a "jutsu-shiki" to use as a mark for the destination. So you simply use a specific seal to mark the thing you want. Then you have to use an application of both summoning and sealing techniques. The physics of summoning and sealing isn't that important at the moment, so I'll explain it in a way you'll understand," Kakashi said bluntly. "You teleport to the mark."

Naruto scratched his head, looking up at his two senseis as they nodded in agreement. Jiraiya gave Kakashi a worried look, but Kakashi ignored him. As Naruto's teacher, he felt obligated to help his student in any way possible. Besides, they were to groom Naruto to become the Rokudaime of Konoha. Such a sacrifice would infinitely help out his village.

"I'm going to try and do this technique, Naruto. It is an extremely dangerous technique that could possibly even kill you if you're not careful. When you summon a frog or seal your ramen, that's an entirely different story. You're body isn't put on the line. " Kakashi said. He took another look at Jiraiya and nodded.

**In the Hokage's office. **

"Tsunade-sama! We would like an explanation as to your selections for Hokage!" a somewhat indignant voice rang out as her door slammed open.

"Well, good afternoon, Homura-sama, Koharu-sama." Tsunade said politely to two of Konoha's village elders. Even though she was much more powerful than the two of them combined, she had a fair deal of respect for the Third Hokage's old teammates.

"Your selections were extremely questionable and many of the other council members are wondering if you've gone insane." Homaru started.

"Yes. Konohamaru was a good candidate but the others are very questionable. Uchiha Sasuke, a missing-nin only a few years ago… Wasabi Lei, although strong for his age, does not have the maturity or sense of responsibility to be Hokage… Aoi Kintaro, a self-centered egomaniac who cares more about his looks than anything else… And… And…" Koharu-sama trailed off quietly.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Tsunade finished for the village elder. With a sigh, Tsunade put down her paperwork to stand up. The two elders watched as she looked out the window.

"The truth is that I have already made my decision for the Rokudaime Hokage." Tsunade said simply.

"So Konohamaru will inherit the title just as his grandfather did!" Homaru said, giving her male counterpart a small smile.

"Well, no. That's not quite right. I just included him as a candidate because of his ties to Sandaime."

"Wasabi Lei then? I've heard from Aoba that he is extremely lazy. Even worse than Jiraiya!"

"No, that's not quite right either." Tsunade repeated.

"Uchiha Sasuke?"

"No."

"Aoi Kintaro?"

"No." Tsunade said once again as the two elders looked at each other with a look of surprise.

"The Rokudaime title will be given to Uzumaki Naruto. The others are just included to strengthen Konoha's morale. Villagers see much of the old man in Konohamaru. The Wasabi clan is not very well thought of and I felt a candidate for Hokage would strengthen their niche in Konoha. Aoi Kintaro makes half the village happy." Tsunade went on, "and Uchiha Sasuke gives Naruto some competition."

"Very well, Tsunade. But do you honestly believe that Konoha will accept Uzumaki Naruto? You and Jiraiya may approve of him, as well as many of the Jounin. But Konoha has a deep hatred for that young man," said Koharu bluntly.

Tsunade looked at each of them, understanding their perspective. "That young man is very special. He does not have the potential of an Uchiha or a Hyuuga, but he has a strong resolve. In his generation, the Will of Fire that Sandaime spoke of is stronger than any of his comrades."

"I see," the elders said softly. "We will inform the rest of the council."

They backed out of the room as Tsunade looked at a picture of Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. "He _will_ be Hokage. I am sure of it!"

**By the Hot Springs **

Naruto sat down, enjoying the lunch that Sakura and Ino had made him for a present. He looked at the kunai hanging from a tree and shuddered at what had happened when Kakashi had tried to do the technique. Naruto had serious doubts after seeing what had happened to his sensei. Kakashi was in the hospital for weeks.

"Taking a break, Naruto?" Jiraiya asked, walking over to join Naruto under the shade of a tree.

"Yup Ero-sennin! I'm going to master that technique, even if it's the last thing I do!" Naruto said exuberantly. Jiraiya just laughed.

"Work hard, Naruto. Tsunade-hime will be supervising your training tomorrow. "

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto burst, spitting food everywhere. "Why? You're a better teacher for me than her! She ought to be training Sakura!"

"You are a candidate for Rokudaime Hokage!" Jiraiya said sternly. "Tsunade must see that you are doing your training. Besides, there is more to being Hokage than just jutsu and techniques. You're going to actually spend time in her office, helping her fill out paperwork."

"WHAT!" Naruto blurted again.

"Finish your food, Naruto, and keep training! The Fourth would be ashamed to see that you could only perform his technique at a distance of five feet."

"No way, Ero-sennin! I'm at six feet now!" Naruto proudly announced.


	4. C3: Stone, Sand, Leaf, Cloud, Mist

"**Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: The system I use for time is based off a thread on Narutofan (http/forums. Everything is predicated upon the attack on Kyuubi.

**Chapter Three: Stone… Sand… Leaf… Cloud… Mist…**

_**Year: 18 AK (18 years After Kyuubi attack)**_

Shikamaru sat lazily in a desk at the Ninja Administration building. There was a definite uneasiness in Konoha today. Everywhere Shikamaru went, he could not avoid the constant chatter about the Fifth's absence. So he decided to go where he thought no one would bother him. He went to work.

"Shikamaru! Someone's hear to see you!" one of the other Chuunins called out from the hallway.

Shikamaru groaned. He definitely did not want to talk business with anyone on that day. A figure stepped into the room.

"So this is what Konoha's top strategist does when he's at work. Absolutely nothing.." the mocking voice said.

Shikamaru looked up and thought to himself. "_Oh no. Not her again._"

** At the Hospital **

'_Naruto sure has been visiting me a lot lately,_' Sakura thought to herself as Naruto entered the small room that she used for her quarters.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said cheerfully, looking around as if he was trying to record every detail in the room.

"Hey, Naruto. What're you doing here?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Oh I'm just visiting. Ero-sennin's busy today since Granny Tsunade is out of town." Naruto said cheerfully.

"I see. Don't you have a mission today though?"

"Oh. Ero-sennin made Kakashi-sensei do it and told me to come here and assist the hospital for my mission. It pays to have him as the guy in charge." Naruto said with a glint in his eyes. Sakura thought to herself that Tsunade never gave _her_ days off. In fact, she always gave Sakura more missions than necessary.

"Aren't you worried, Naruto?"

"About what?" Naruto said as he wrote into a little notepad.

"Tsunade-sama is gone, remember? Aren't you worried that Konoha will be attacked or something?"

"Not really. Ero-sennin is still here." Naruto said nonchalantly. "Besides! I'm here too! No one will dare attack while I'm here!"

Sakura gave him a weak smile. Naruto helped Sakura put away medical supplies into cabinets. She began to wonder if Konoha would be okay. With the Hokage gone, it would be an excellent time for an attack to occur. Not only was Tsunade gone, but she had taken several ANBU teams and Jounins along with her as protection for the meeting.

"I'll be right back, Sakura-chan! I think Shizune-neesan was calling for help!" Naruto announced giddily as Shizune walked past in the hallways. Sakura merely nodded, lost completely in her thoughts.

'_I wonder how the meeting's going._' Sakura thought to herself.

**At the Wave Country **

Tsunade and about thirty to forty other ninjas arrived at a great bridge at the Wave Country and stopped.

"Tsunade-sama? Why are we stopping?" one of the ANBU captains said to her. "We only have twenty minutes to arrive at the meeting place."

Something apparently caught her eye as she walked to look at the name of the bridge. In large letters, the bridge read:

"**THE GREAT NARUTO BRIDGE"**

With a perplexed look on her face, she opened a small book and turned to the back. She read aloud to herself.

"Uzumaki Naruto mission history. S-rank missions: 2. A-rank missions: 11. C:Rank missions: 35. D-Rank missions: 111…" Tsunade chuckled to herself. It was indeed a favorite pastime of hers to give Naruto D-Rank missions. She continued to read. "Let's see… Wave Country… Oh. Naruto's first C-Rank mission. I'll need to ask Kakashi about it later."

Within fifteen minutes, Tsunade and her entourage arrived in the Wave Country. They were greeted by various ninjas from the Hidden Village of Falls. The meeting that was about to occur was extremely top secret and no country truly trusted one another. So therefore, many of the smaller villages were asked to help with security. In another ten minutes, they were brought to a large building and Tsunade was escorted to a room on one of the top floors. On the way, they saw ninjas from various other countries. For some, there were villages such as the Hidden Moon that they had never seen before.

'_This security is so tight.' _thought one of the ANBU captains as he turned on his Byakugan and looked in all directions. _'Just as I thought. The Byakugan can't even see through any of the walls. Definitely very well thought-out._'

Tsunade's guards were not allowed in. They were all to wait nearby in a large room. When they entered the room, they saw over a hundred ninja from the Hidden Villages of Sand, Stone, Cloud, and Mist.

Meanwhile, Tsunade took a seat in at a round table where four others were seated. All five of them wore distinctive robes from their respective countries. Blue, green, red, brown, and yellow.

"Nice of you to join us, Hokage-sama." a voice said from the ninja wearing brown robes.

"Are we ready?" said the ninja in yellow. The others nodded.

"Well, the meeting to discuss the recent trend in increasing forces shall now begin." said the blue-robed ninja.

**NEXT TIME: **A longer chapter, I promise…I just wanted to write something short before going on another road trip.


	5. C4: The Raikage Assassination

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Four: The Raikage Assassination**

_**Year: 20 AK (20 Years after Kyuubi Attack)**_

"You don't need any help?" a voice asked in the darkness, quietly. Silence filled the cave for moments before the voice received an answer.

"Wait here," was the reply as the owner of the voice ventured out of the cave.

The man looked around and surveyed his surroundings. Tonight was the night. It would be the night that began it all. Or perhaps from another person's perspective, the night that ended the world. From the dark cave, he peered up at the mountain in which he'd conquer. The mountain whose summit held one of the most powerful hidden villages in the world... the Hidden Cloud Village.

"Ryu-Hebi-Tora-Tori-Usagi-Nezumi," was the only sound heard as the man performed the complicated handseals needed to perform the jutsu. A bright flash as well as a huge explosion filled the area. From high up above, loud voices rang out.

"What was that?" the first voice yelled.

"I don't know? Is it the intruders?" a second voice answered back.

"Damn that Suna! Raikage-sama was wrong to trust them!"

Meanwhile down below the summit, waves of ninjas arrived out of complete darkness. The Cloud ninjas from up above peered down as they began to sound various alerts. Reinforcements came quickly as the Cloud all rushed out to meet the unknown ninja head on.

"Fools," the man from the cave thought to himself. He watched as the waves of Cloud ninjas began to fight with the unknown army and as many died in the face of this ambiguous force. Kunai flew and various Cloud ninja fell.

"Retreat!" a Cloud Jounin called out as Cloud ninjas dropped. He began to race toward the top of the encampment as the rest of the unit sent out to counter the force outside the Hidden Village of Cloud was easily dispatched.

As he made it back into the compound, the soldiers closed the door. The Cloud Jounin slapped away what appeared to be a bug off of his brow.

"How many survived?" he asked wearily.

"Only you," one of the sentries replied. The Jounin appeared downcast and wearily wrapped a bandage around his right bicep.

"Are the reinforcements here yet?" he asked quietly.

"No, sir. Given the time it takes to mobilize, it'll take several minutes before we can get enough power to mount a defense. But we should be able to hold off any attack, high here in the mountains. We can win this fight!" the sentry said excitedly. The Jounin nodded and looked at the three guards around him. He closed his eyes as he listened for the sound of the massive army outside. He heard thousands of footsteps rushing up toward the encampment.

"They're coming! Kunai ready?" a ninja from high above the walls of the village yelled out. The Jounin closed his eyes and listened for the army outside. '_They're still 100 yards away," _he thought to himself.

"Kai!" a small voice whispered. The footsteps stopped.

"What happened?" the Jounin asked the other guards.

"I don't know, sir!" the first guard replied.

"They're all gone!" the second broke out.

"What!" the Jounin said, rushing to the top of the village's walls and peered out into the darkness. There was nothing.

"Imbeciles," the man from the cave spat silently and raced through the streets of the Hidden Village of Cloud. Despite never being in the village, the intruder knew where he was going. He walked stealthily through the streets towards the largest building in the village. Hundreds of Cloud Ninjas passed by him as they all rushed to get to the edges of the village. Many were not able to see the man from the cave, for he was much too good at evading their gaze.

The man from the cave was very exact in his motions. He did not rush, nor did he dawdle. His gait was extremely precise and was able to avoid making a sound. Not a speck of dust was displaced whenever his foot touched the ground. A more powerful ninja would have sensed his presence. However, the man from the cave knew that the route he had taken housed various genin and chuunin. No one at that skill level would be able to realize he was there. The man didn't hurry though. He knew what he was doing. As ten minutes passed by, the man arrived at his destination. The home of the village's most powerful ninja, the Raikage.

There were two ninjas standing guard at the building's door. In an instant, the man appeared behind the two guards and slashed at their throats with a kunai. They were dead before they hit the ground with a soft thud. The man from the cave paid no attention to how quickly they fell to the ground as he pushed the door open. It creaked softly as he peered inside.

The room inside was dark and filled with many shadows. Portraits were hung on the wall of various ninja from the Hidden Village of Cloud. But in the middle of the room was a great staircase. The man from the cave walked toward it and stopped. He threw a kunai at a wire running horizontally, parallel to the ground. Instantly, the trap went off and dozens of kunai flew in from the sides of the walls. The man from the cave continued walking forward as the barrage of kunai ceased.

At the top of the staircase, he reached a large room which split off into three hallways. He walked down through the middle one. As he walked down the hallway, his arms remained inside of his dark cloak. Nothing appeared to faze him as he avoided the traps in the building without blinking. At the end of the middle hallway, he found another doorway. He could see a faint light from underneath the door. He waited silently outside the door and listened to the two people talking inside.

"The reports are coming in, Raikage-sama! The Suna ninjas have disappeared," a high-pitched voice announced. It was obviously a woman.

"Was it indeed Suna, however?" the Raikage replied. The man sounded weary, yet exuded a melodic cadence.

"No one has been able to confirm it," the woman answered back.

"I see. How many were killed?" the Raikage asked calmly.

"Only 13," was his answer.

"Only? No, Kaiya, that is too many. Go fetch Dayato. Bring him back here as quickly as you can," the Raikage said curtly.

"Yes sir!" the woman said quickly as the door burst open. The man in the cave watched her speed out and go down the hallway that he had just come through. He walked into the room. The room was quite large, even for a kage. Despite the size of the room, it had very little in it. It had a desk, a few chairs, and a filing cabinet. There were no pictures hanging on the wall. The only picture that was in the room sat on the Raikage's desk. It was a picture of him and a woman with dark brown hair, smiling.

The man from the cave watched the Raikage as he looked out the window and looked up at the sky. It was a dark night. Cloudless. A crescent moon shined overhead as the stars lined the night sky. The Raikage was a tall man who was probably in his late thirties. He wore a set of simple, black robes, with yellow trim. His face was perhaps his most interesting feature though. Every expression he made hinted a happy, beaming smile. But his eyes... his eyes were unusual. No, they were not unusual in the sense of a doujitsu like the Byakuugan or the Sharingan. No, they were different in that they were sad. His eyes contained possibly all the sadness in the world. It was an unusual sight to see a man who could appear happy and sad at the same time. The man from the cave examined the Raikage for several moments. Finally, the Raikage spoke.

"How many of my men did you have to kill in order to get here?"

"Fifteen," the man from the cave replied.

"I see. So you were responsible for the thirteen killed in battle. The two guards as well?" the Raikage asked. The man from the cave nodded in response. "How were you able to overcome thirteen of the village's top guards as well as infiltrate one of the most secure complexes in the world?"

"It was easy," said the voice from the man from the cave trailed off. The Raikage watched, interested, as the man from the cave lowered his black hood. The black hood that was part of his black robes with a red design that appeared to be clouds at its hem.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the Raikage said, with no sense of surprise in his voice. "I should have known it was you. Only you could have been able to defeat so many armed men. You, the man who avenged and killed your only brother. Which of your _copied_ jutsus did you use to confound so many experienced ninjas."

"Simple. I used a genjutsu to make them think they were fighting the Sand army. But essentially your thirteen experienced ninjas were caught in it and killed eachother. I used a version of the Multi-Size technique to shrink myself and attach myself to a survivor. He thought I was a tiny bug on his forehead," the man from the cave explained quietly.

The Raikage eyed the man he thought was Uchiha Sasuke closely. He was still the man he had met at a peace talk months ago. However, his face appeared different. He had two slash marks running diagonally across his face.

"Are you here to kill me?" the Raikage asked.

The man from the cave did not reply. He merely closed his eyes, and when he opened them, the familiar red eyes with three black pointed dots appeared.

"What an honor. I get to witness the famed Konoha Sharingan," the Raikage mocked. The Raikage removed his robes to reveal a gold vest and black clothing he wore underneath. "But if you think that you can just come in here and kill me, you're sadly mistaken."

Sasuke threw his cloak aside and hurled three kunai at the Raikage. The Raikage dodged and caught all three with his left pinky, hurling them back at its owner. Sasuke deflected the kunai to the ground. The Raikage then began to perform a series of hand-seals.

"I figure that this would be a good time to use this," the Raikage muttered through his teeth. "_Kirigakure no Jutsu. "_

Instantly, the room began to fill with mist. Sasuke looked around, but did not seem to be surprised in the slightest. Moisture filled the air and soon Sasuke could not see a thing. He smiled and closed his eyes, conserving his chakra. The Sharingan would do him no good here.

Suddenly the Raikage's voice rang out, clear as day, "_Rairo no Jutsu_!" (Sorry those of you who speak Japanese, Trying to make up jutsu is hard)

The air around Sasuke's body exploded around him in electricity. The water covering his body intensified it as he was trapped in some sort of electric prison. The Raikage smiled as the mist cleared and he watched as Sasuke grimaced in pain. The combination of water and electric was especially effective and the Raikage pulled out his kunai to finish the job.

But before he could, Sasuke took a breath and muttered swiftly, "_Katon Mayu!"_

Fire enveloped Sasuke's body and the water on his clothing evaporated. There was a small explosion as the electricity and fire reacted. When the smoke cleared, Sasuke was gone.

"_Shihohappo Shuriken!"_ Sasuke's voice rang out. Shuriken from every direction flew out at the Raikage. Each one found their mark. Sasuke poked his head out from underneath the Raikage's desk to look at what had happened to him.

The moment the Raikage fell over and popped as the result of _Kawarimi no Jutsu_, Sasuke snapped his head to his left to see a kunai being hurled at him by the _real_ Raikage.

Sasuke caught the kunai in his hand and activated his Mangekyou Sharingan. The Raikage did not say a word as Sasuke uttered the last word he'd ever hear in his life, "_Ameterasu._"

Instantly, the Raikage's entire body went up in black flames. At that moment, various Cloud ninjas arrived, including the woman who he had sent out just minutes ago. They did not recognize who the assailant was, but they _did_ see his Mangekyou Sharingan. Sasuke burst out the window and into the dark, silent night.

The woman ran over to their fallen Raikage as the rest of the Cloud ninjas raced toward the Uchiha. She quickly pulled out a scroll and, panicked, mutterd, "_Fuka Hoin._"

In seconds, the fire was gone, but the life of the Raikage was fading away. His body was almost charred black. He looked up at the woman. The woman held his hand in hers, trying desperately to resuccitate their fallen leader. No one would've guessed that this charred, mutilated body was once one of the most powerful ninja in the world. There was no way to tell except by it's facial expression... Eyes which contained all the sadness in the world. Its eyes were filled with tears, but it had a warm smile on its face. As his last tear drop fell, so did his hand... falling limp as well.

The woman screamed.

**.: The next day... :.**

The light turned on as Naruto and Hinata entered the room.

"**_SURPRISE!_**!" the entire room burst out. Naruto, shocked, dropped all of his packages of Ramen all over the floor as Hinata giggled softly. He surveyed the people in his small apartment. Everyone was there... Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Chouji, Shino, Rock Lee, Tenten, and even Neji.

"But my birthday's not until tomorrow!" Naruto said, laughing.

"Of course we know that. But do you think we'd be so stupid as to do it on your actual birthday?" Sakura said, giving Naruto a slight hug.

"We got you a cake!" Ino said excitedly. "Give it to him, Chouji!"

Chouji stepped up and produced a box. When they all opened the small, pink box, there was only a quarter of the cake left. Crumbs covered Chouji's shirt. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata all glared at Chouji and Shikamaru gave a sigh of irritation.

"Where's Iruka and Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

"Didn't you see the bird flying around outside, Naruto? Jeez, you're so clueless. Hokage-sama is calling a meeting and they went on ahead. We have to go." Shikamaru said, annoyed.

"But first, blow out your candles, Naruto-kun!" Rock Lee said good-naturedly as Neji lit the candles on top of Naruto's... slice.

"Make a wish!" Tenten said, "But you can't tell us what it is."

"As if we don't know what he's wishing for," Sasuke muttered as everyone started laughing. Naruto beamed at all of his friends and then looked at the candle. Being Hokage was his life dream, of course. But it wasn't what he wished for at the moment. As he blew out the candles, the thoughts running through his head were, _"I wish for more happy days like this._"

"You missed one," Shino pointed out in his monotonous voice.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered," Temari said happily, blowing her fan at the cake. It blew out the candle, but it blew out the cake as well. Everyone started laughing as Naruto was covered in cake.

Neji smiled and said, "We've better get going though. Tsunade-sama looks distressed."

Everyone looked at him confused for a second, but then noticed he had his Byakuugan turned on. Obviously he was able to watch everything going on in Konoha. He could even look in on the meeting that Tsunade was having with the rest of the Jounin and Chuunin. Naruto and company were the only ones not present.

The group hurried to the meeting and were there in less than a minute. Tsunade was muttering quickly to the two village elders and Jiraiya. She definately looked very upset at the moment. Strangely enough, Kakashi was on time.

"Hey, Perverted Hermit!" Naruto called out. Jiraiya didn't even look at him. Kakashi walked over to him. "What's going on, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Eh? I don't know, but something is definately wrong." Kakashi replied.

"Okay everyone! Please have a seat," Shizune said to everyone. "We have a lot to talk about."

The murmuring from the Jounin and Chuunin ceased as they all kneeled down on the carpet and looked forward at their Hokage.

Tsunade looked at all of them and said the words that they'd all remember for the rest of their lives.

"We're at war."

_**.: Somewhere in the Lightning Country :.**_

The Uchiha walked back into the cave to find his partner in deep meditation. He dropped his forehead protector to the floor by the fire and collapsed in exhaustion. His chakra was completely drained. Light flickered off of the Konoha forehead protector which had a slash through it. The man fell asleep.

"Complete your mission?" Kisame asked, without opening an eye... "Itachi..."

**Author's Note**

I sincerely apologize for my absence guys. I've been busy with family stuff and school. I'm going to try and get a chapter done every two weeks from now on. And yes, the assassin isn't Sasuke, but Itachi. That's very important, but explained in the next chapter. Which will mostly be dialogue. As you know, this story is about war. I wanted to spend more time on pre-war, but I felt you guys deserved some action. There's a lot of holes in my story right now, but don't worry... you'll understand in future chapters. Flashbacks...


	6. C5: Sharingan and Byakugan Defeated

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Five: Sharingan and Byakugan's Defeat**

_**Year: 21AK (21 Years after Kyuubi Attack)**_

"I'm sorry I'm late, Hokage-sama. A pretty girl was lost, so I had to give her directions," Kakashi said as he entered the Hokage's office.

"My eternal rival, Kakashi!" Gai yelled, appearing out of nowhere. "Why must you always be late to Hokage-sama's meetings? You should be more energetic and arrive to meetings prompt and on-time with an Explosion of Youth!"

Kakashi shrugged as he sat down along Gai, who had his thumbs up and his trademark TING! He surveyed the room. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, Iruka, Ibiki, and Gai were all gathered there. On the table was a map with the various countries on it. Clearly they were discussing strategy. Small clay figurines were scattered everywhere. Many people in Konoha were extremely stressed with the news of war. It had only been two days and a battle hadn't occured, but the village was frantically preparing itself for the worst. Kakashi gave a sigh as he thought back to the meeting that Tsunade had only two days ago.

_**.: Two days ago :.**_

"We're at war," Tsunade said flatly. A murmur of whispers instantly arose in the room. Kakashi stared at the front of the room calmly as everyone around him began chattering. Some were excited, for Konoha had been peaceful in the past several months. Akatsuki's attacks had reduced dramatically. For some of the older Jounins, many were concerned. Veterans of the past wars knew that no good would come of this.

"We've received several messages from the other Hidden Villages. The first was the Hidden Village of Cloud, who claimed that their Raikage was assassinated by a Sharingan from Konoha," Tsunade said calmly. The eyes in the room glanced at Sasuke, who was sitting with a perplexed look on his face.

"No way, Granny Tsunade! Sasuke has been here in the village!" Naruto yelled angrilly. "They're lying!"

"Well. There's no way to prove it to them. But either way, the Cloud have declared war on Konoha," Tsunade said through her teeth. Lines of worry could easily be seen on her forehead. She must have been up the entire night, trying to steer the village out of war. "But that's not our only problem."

She paused, looking at the two hundred or so Jounins and Chuunins in the room. Konoha had certainly grown in the past several years. Mostly just to keep up with the other nations, who had continued to buildup their forces. The peace talks in the Wave Country had failed.

"After Suna declared they'd honor their alliance with us, the Hidden Village of Stone declared war," Tsunade continued, "The Mist have declared neutrality, but we're going to have our hands tied."

Kakashi closed his eyes and remembered the last war. He had lost his best friend, Obito, to Stone ninjas. But he remembered his own incompetence and felt a wave of sadness. The sounds of the room faded as pain seared in his left eye.. images of Obito trapped underneath a pile of rocks. Kakashi shook his head and focused again on what Tsunade was saying.

"-- have received the Mizukage's assurance that the Mist will not participate in the war," Tsunade said, "but the Cloud are furious and the Stone will be looking to prove something."

"Can we win this war?" Aoba asked.

"Of course, baka! They can't beat us!" Naruto said from his seat, "I'll beat them all to a pulp until they surrender. Just watch me!"

The various Jounin and Chuunin around the room laughed. Naruto was now twenty-one years old, but still retained his fiery enthusiasm. The people in the room felt a little more relieved. Tsunade cracked a slight smile. However, Kakashi scowled and looked out the window at the rest of the village of Konoha.

_**.: Back to the present :. **_

"Kakashi! We want you to go northeast and defend our border from the Cloud, while Gai will go northwest and aid the Sand against the Stone. The Sand are going to help us out, but they've been lacking in military power for years," Tsunade said. "Jiraiya and I will stay here and protect Konoha."

"How many will go?" Kakashi asked.

"300 for each force. All Jounin and Chuunin. Rather than the traditional 3 man team, Shikamaru has suggested that a 9-man team would work much better considering the large amount of numbers. So you'll have around 30 teams to deal with. Position them accordingly," Tsunade said. "Shizune! You'll have to run the hospital since I'll be busy, and Ibiki, station your ANBU units throughout the country."

"What can we expect from all of this?" Iruka asked.

"Death..." Kakashi answered darkly.

_**.: A week later :. **_

Naruto sat in his tent with the rest of his teammates. Despite being camped out in the forest for several days, he felt very at ease. He had some of the most powerful shinobi he knew surrounding him. Kakashi appointed him as a team leader and told him to find 8 other ninja who he felt could best work with him. Naruto didn't have to think about it very hard. He did cheat to a certain extent, by creating Kage Bunshins to find the 8 before anyone else could. The first person he asked was Uchiha Sasuke, his best friend. Then he asked Hyuuga Neji, the genius ninja of the most powerful shinobi clan in Konoha. After that, Inuzuka Kiba, Rock Lee, Konohamaru, Wasabi Lei, and two other ninjas that he had teamed with briefly, Tiresias and Dotope.

When Kakashi saw the team Naruto had assembled, he gave Naruto a cheerful smile and assigned him to the very heart of Konoha's forces in the defense against the Cloud. Naruto was surprised that Kakashi would give him such an important area to defend, but Kakashi later explained that since Hyuuga Neji was there, he'd be able to spot oncoming attacks days before they arrived. Neji's Byakuugan had improved immensely over the past ten years. There were rumors that he could even see the entire Fire Country with his Byakuugan, though he'd be exhausted for several weeks from the strain.

There were several other teams in the mountain area they were in. The encampment probably had about fifty or so ninjas, but Naruto didn't really know many of the ninjas there. Naruto's team was probably the most powerful team in the group. Many of Naruto's other friends were scattered throughout the Fire Country. Sakura, for example, was working with Shizune, trying to manage the hospital. It was guaranteed that there would be various injured shinobi. Shikmaru was working closely with Tsunade, Gai, and Kakashi, developing strategies. Tenten and Chouji were on a team with Gai while Shino and Ino were serving as ANBU under Ibiki. Temari remained in Konoha to act as a liason between the two villages of Konoha and Suna, while various Jounin such as Kurenai or Genma were scattered throughout the country.

As for Hinata, Naruto forbade her from joining any battle unless she was called forward. It troubled her immensely, but Naruto had tremendous worry if he knew that Hinata was out fighting somewhere. He was confident that she could hold her own, but he still worried nonetheless. She was at Konoha, with some of the other ninja as a "home-base" so to speak if anything should ever go wrong.

"How long do you think we'll be out here?" Wasabi Lei asked. He'd become a powerful ninja since he fought Naruto in the Chuunin exam years ago, but Naruto had no idea how powerful he indeed was.

"We could be out here for awhile," Rock Lee answered, "The last wars lasted a very long time."

Lei showed a look of disgust and then a look of worry, but they disappeared as quickly as they appeared. Something was definately botheirng him, but Naruto didn't notice. Neji was able to read the look instantly. Neji was a master at reading a person's emotions, thanks to the tremendous insight that the Hyuuga had.

"You seem apprehensive about something, Lei?" Neji asked suspiciously.

"Well, yes," Lei admitted. "I don't have my pet turtle here with me."

Neji eyed him suspiciously for a moment but turned around to get some food in his bag. Akamaru yawned lazily outside the tent as Kiba patted his head. Sasuke peered into the darkness and listened for sounds. Tiresias lay down onto his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. He had finished his watch twenty minutes ago, but it was a useless watch since a Sharingan and Byakuugan were also keeping watch. Compared to Sasuke and Neji, Tiresias was blind. (haha... Oedipus the King allusion)

"_SHARINGAN!_" Sasuke muttered quietly. He peered outside of the tent. His companions stared at Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't one to fool around and if he turned on his Sharingan, something was definately going on.

"What can you see with your eyes, Neji?" Sasuke whispered in a voice that was barely audible. He continued to stare into the darkness.

"I see nothing, Sasuke. Is there something your Sharingan sees?" Neji replied. Neji didn't move from the spot he was sitting in. His Byakuugan could see just fine from the spot he was in.

"Isn't it strange that we see nothing? It is night, yes, but I do not see a thing. Not even a rabbit or an owl. No insects or mice. Don't you find that strange?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Before Neji could reply, a twig snapped off in the distance. In a flash, Sasuke ran out of the tent, with his kunai ready. Perhaps it was just a rabbit, one may have thought, but in the ninja world, you could never know.

"GO!" Naruto snapped to the rest of his team. "Tiresias! Wake Dotope and alert the other teams! We're going to go investigate. I have a bad feeling about this."

Tiresias tapped Dotope on his shoulder, while Naruto and the others chased after Sasuke. Their encampment lay at the very edges of the Fire and Rice countries. Their tents sat in the midst of a forest next to a ravine that seperated the Fire and the Rice Country. On the other side of the ravine was a treacherous series of mountains. If an attack were to come, they'd be coming at this point.

"Ya know, this could be a false alarm," Kiba said, riding atop Akamaru.

"No. Sasuke was correct. Something is wrong," Neji said as the group followed behind Sasuke. In a few moments, they reached the edge of the forest and saw the ravine seperating the Fire and Sound.

"Do you see anything?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke.

"No," Sasuke answered. "Kiba, can you smell anything?"

"Yes. The air... it's different here," Kiba responded quietly. Rock Lee looked around as he hid behind a bush. It was a tense situation.

"_Kokuangyo no jutsu! (Bringer-of-darkness technique)"_ a voice called out from the group's left. The six all raised their kunai, searching for the sound of the voice. But it was in vain as the entire area began to fill with pure darkness. The entire expanse between the forest and the ravine turned black. The moon was gone, as was the rest of the night sky. There was absolutely no light. They were shrouded in complete darkness. Neji and Sasuke strained to see anything but failed, even with the Byakuugan and Sharingan.

"_Kekkai Hojin! (Barrier Encampment Method)_" multiple voices cried out in all directions. A barrier appeared around Naruto and his friends. Neji threw a shuriken at the barrier and to his dismay, the shuriken was lit ablaze and turned to ash.

"We're trapped!" Neji muttered. He closed his eyes, as did Sasuke. The Sharingan and Byakuugan would do them no good here.

"Be on guard!" Naruto said as he concentrated. Naruto had never quite fought in complete darkness before. He had had training under Jiraiya, yes, but he had never actually had a live experience in such a situation.

"Hahaha! So this is the best that Konoha has to offer?" a high-pitched voice said from seemingly everywhere. The six ninjas tried to trace the sound, but were unable to find it. It would seem that the sound echoed off of the barrier they were in and distorted the sounds.

"Kiba! Can you and Akamaru smell them?" Naruto whispered quickly.

"No! Somehow we can't trace the scent!" Kiba said.

"Argh!" Sasuke groaned. A punch hit him in the stomach and knocked him backward. He raised his hands to block, but the punches and kicks kept coming.

"Sasuke? Are you alright?" Naruto asked desperately as Sasuke groaned from the unknown figure's attack.

Sasuke began to think to himself. '_How could I get trapped in this Genjutsu? My Sharingan could've copied and I could've produced some sort of counter. The attacker must have an advanced bloodline as well. What should I do?"_

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ Naruto called out. Four clones appeared next to Naruto. At that moment, the rest of Naruto's team was attacked. However, it seemed as if their assailants were just playing with them, for only punches and kicks were being delivered.

Perhaps the person having the least amount of difficulty was Rock Lee. With his reflexes, power, and speed, he was able to dodge and react to his attacker based on the vibrations in the air. He was the only one not suffering from any significant damage. The others though weren't doing very well.

"Got you!" One of Naruto's clones said happily. While fighting in the dark, the clone was able to grab one of the kicks. The clone did several handseals and yelled out, "_Bunshin Daibakuha! (Clone Great Explosion)_"

Instantly, the clone exploded. Unforunately, it's target was not an attacker but one of the other clones that Naruto had created.

"Neji! You can not see anything with your Byakuugan?" Sasuke called out as he was punched in the face.

"I'll try!" Neji replied as he in turn was knocked backwards. "_Byakugan!"_

Neji looked around. With the Byakugan on, there was little difference to when his eyes were normal. However, unlike what the naked eye could see, the darkness looked more like some sort of black fog.

"_Hm... I can't see a thing in this darkness but black fog! Wait! The fog is denser and lighter in some areas! The users are probably hiding in the densest parts of this Genjutsu. If I concentrate... concentrate..._" Neji thought. "_THERE!_"

Neji saw the deepest part of the fog and rushed forward. "_Jyuken!_" he called out as he struck and sent a wave of chakra into one of his attackers. As he did so, the the darkness disappeared and Naruto's team was finally able to see who they were attacking. It wasn't quite an effective enough hit as he attacked blindly.

"Good job, Neji!" Naruto said with an embarassed look as everyone saw that his two clones were fighting eachother. The six members of Naruto's team were roughed up, but were for the most part alright. Lei was looking a bit worse for wear though, as he was the weakest in hand-to-hand combat. When they turned to look at their assailants, they realized that there were only six of them. They were all gathered around a person on the ground, helping the one that Neji had knocked to the ground up. As they rasied the figure up, they saw that it was a woman. She had dark brown hair and wore long clothing with a gold Jounin vest.

"Impressive," the woman said, "That is what I'd expect from some of Konoha's strongest ninjas. However, you won't get out of this barrier alive. I can guarantee it."

The woman motioned at the barrier that surrounded them. It was a rectangular shaped... force-field. Outside, there were four Cloud ninjas maintaining the barrier. Outside of the four Cloud ninjas, a battle of about fifty to sixty Konoha and Cloud ninjas was going on. Shuriken and kunai were being hurled left and right as katon and raiton jutsus were being performed by various ninja. Various explosions went off as the fire and electricity of the jutsus impacted. Naruto could see Tiresias and Dotope trying to get to the four Cloud ninjas who had raised the barrier.

"You'll pay for what you did to Raikage-sama!" the woman said to Sasuke.

Sasuke merely glared at her. He did not feel the need to waste his energy to try and convince a person who didn't believe him. "_SHARINGAN!"_ he murmured.

"The Uchiha Sharingan. It's spelled doom to so many shinobi," the woman mocked, "but my power is much stronger!"

The group watched as the woman performed several seals. Captivated, Naruto's team watched in fascination. What was she planning to do? At the end of the sequence, she yelled out, "_Genjugan!"_ (Sorry Japanese speakers... I was trying to say 'Illusional Eye')

In a flash of light, the woman's pupils glowed a pale gold color. Lei wondered what kind of power this was. The Cloud ninjas beside the woman smiled to themselves and raised their kunai. The woman rushed toward Sasuke as each of the Cloud ninjas followed her lead and attacked the other members of Naruto's team. Each of the ninjas threw shuriken toward them as six individual battles began.

"What kind of hidden powers does this doujutsu have?" Sasuke muttered to himself as he prepared to face off against the mystery Cloud kunoichi. He threw three shuriken at the woman, only to have her deflect it with her own shuriken.

"_Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! (Fire Technique: Great Fireball)_" Sasuke muttered and held his hand to his mouth to fan a fireball in the direction of his opponent.

"_Raiton: Raijinheki: (Electric Technique: Electric Encampment Wall!)" _the woman said, countering Sasuke's technique. A wall of electricity leapt up as the fireball exploded. The woman threw two kicks that Sasuke would block. The two entered hand-to-hand combat as Sasuke slashed at the woman with his kunai. The woman ducked and shot upward, kneeing Sasuke in the face.

Sasuke flew backward, somersaulting in the air. His lip began to bleed as he wiped it on his sleeve. Sasuke smirked as he looked at the woman. This would definately be a good fight. Sasuke raced toward the woman again.

"_Buyo no Jutsu! (Art of the Dancing Leaf)"_ Lei said, doing several seals. His opponent was an extremely large Cloud ninja. He wore a dark grey outfit with a gold Jounin vest. His face was covered in an ANBU mask. As Lei performed his jutsu, a gust of leaves flew at the Cloud ninja. Each leaf pierced through the Cloud ninja. But in a second, the Cloud ninja disappeared with a slight _POOF_! and a log appeared on the ground.

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu, _(Replacement technique), eh?" Lei said to himself, looking around, "Though where did that log come from? He can't replace himself with a log outside that barrier... Unless..."

Lei threw a kunai at the log. The log flew out of the way and transformed back into the large Cloud ninja.

"Not a _kawarimi_, but _Henge no Jutsu_," Lei said to himself, laughing. "Amateur."

"_KONOHA SENPUU!_ (Konoha hurricane)" Lee yelled out, as he threw one of his trademark kicks at a Cloud ninja wielding a large sword. The Cloud ninja ducked and sliced at Lee's head. Lee ducked, weaved right, and punched the Cloud ninja in his jaw, sending him backward.

"You're good," the Cloud ninja said. "But how will you fare against a Sword of Lightning?"

It would seem that Lee's opponent had a good mixture of Taijitsu and Ninjitsu. Lee merely laughed and assumed his usual pose. The Cloud ninja began to perform a variety of handseals... Ox-Dragon-Serpent-Tiger-Ox...

"_Rai no Yaiba!_ (Sword of Lightning)!" the Cloud ninja said. His sword sparked and then began to glow, becoming fully immersed with electrical energy...

"_KAITEN! (_Divination Whirlwind)" Neji burst out as his opponent let out a Raiton jutsu at him. The electricity was parried and dissipated. Neji's opponent was perhaps the smallest of the Cloud ninjas, but the ninja's speed nearly matched Rock Lee's.

The Cloud ninja looked at Neji and yelled, "_Raiton Shibari! (Lightning Bind)_"

Another burst of lightning shot from the Cloud ninja's hands and flew toward Neji. Neji attempted another Kaiten, but to his surprise, the lightning encircled Neji as he spun around. Neji screamed as thousands of volts of electricity pulsed throughout his body.

"_Gatsuuga!"_ Kiba yelled out as him and Akamaru spun at their respective Cloud ninja. To Kiba and Akamaru's surprise, the Cloud ninja stood his ground. When the dust cleared, the Cloud ninja was holding the dog and its master by their throats. He tossed them to the ground, performed a series of handseals... disappearing into thin air.

"Don't worry Akamaru, we'll find him, " Kiba said assuringly as he looked around cautiously.

"A bunshin user too, eh?" Naruto said mockingly. "I bet my 1 clone can defeat your 25 clones!"

"Yeah right!" the Cloud ninja replied, surrounded by his 24 other clones. "You can't beat me. The numbers are too much!"

Suddenly one of the clones beside the original Cloud ninja said, "You wanna bet?"

He pulled out a wire and lassoed the 23 other clones and the original. With a _POOF!_, the Cloud ninja's clone undid it's Henge no Jutsu, and turned back into a clone of Naruto. Naruto snapped as the clone exploded, destroying all of the Cloud ninja's clones and the original Cloud ninja himself.

"Baka! How could you not keep track of your other clones? My clone just used Henge and walked straight into your clones without any of them noticing!" Naruto said to the dead Cloud ninja.

Sasuke panted, clearly out of breath. Who was this woman? She was definately one of the strongest ninja he had ever fought in his life. She didn't even have a scratch on her. He looked at her pale-golden eyes. As he stared at her, he examined her face very closely. She was an extremely beautiful woman. She was probably only twenty-five years old. Despite that, her face was the most interesting. The look in her eyes... it was as if... she was crying, yet no tears fell. Her eyes looked as if she was carrying all the sadness in the world inside of them, yet her face appeared to have hints of a happy smile.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked wearily. At that moment in time, he focused only on this female kunoichi. He did not notice the other five battles going on beside him, or the large battle going on outside the barrier. For the next few seconds, he bated his breath as he waited patiently for her reply. She stared back at him as her eyes glowed ominously.

"The last of my clan..." she said in barely a whisper. The woman rushed forward. Sasuke braced himself, watching her actions. As he began to try and read her movements, her pale gold eyes glowed once again and she disappeared.

"What the..?" Sasuke stammered in surprise. Just as quickly as she disappeared, another figure reappeared. "NARUTO!"

Sasuke was barely able to avoid the kunai slashing from Naruto. Naruto stepped on Sasuke's foot, elbowed Sasuke in his temple, and kneed him in the stomach. Sasuke rolled sideways, away from Naruto, clutching his stomach, gasping for air. Naruto continued his assault on Sasuke. Sasuke tried to defend the best that he could to dodge the hits, but Naruto was able to break his defense. Then Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his side. He looked down to see a kunai lodged inside his chest, right below his heart.

"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sasuke said in between bated breaths. Naruto continued to glare at him with his pale, gold eyes. Sasuke stared into them. _"Wait... Pale, gold eyes?"_

"Kaiya-sama! Konoha's reinforcements are arriving!" a voice called out from the barrier.

"We'll retreat for now!" she replied. Immediately, the barrier dropped.

Sasuke looked up at Naruto's pale, gold eyes. He was growing weak. Blood flowed from the wound in his chest. Sasuke's Sharingan disappeared and his vision began to blur. Before he was enveloped by darkness, the pale, gold eyes flashed and Sasuke went blank.

"Taiyoken!" the woman yelled out as the area went extremely bright. The Konoha ninjas closed their eyes as they shielded their eyes from the bright light. When they opened their eyes again, the Cloud ninjas were gone...

**Author's Note**

Well, two days in a row with a new chapter! Yay for me! Well... Just wanted to try my first _TRUE_ battle sequence... It's a bit unorganized... somewhat indescriptive, but I think I'll improve though. I'd never really done such a battle sequence before.

Anyway, I might not post another chapter for a week or two. But then again, I could post the next chapter in the next couple days. Depends on how busy I am. I think two weeks though will be when the next one will be up. Thing is... I misplaced the exact events of what I wanted to do with my story... I'm just going off memory right now, but my structure for this story is really off. It's okay though, I'll improve.


	7. C6: Ohayo, Hyuugasan!

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Six: Ohayo, Hyuuga-san!**

_**Year: 21AK (21 Years after Kyuubi Attack)**_

The Hyuuga clan ate quietly in their dining room that morning. Breakfast time was Hinata's favorite time of day. Early in the morning, breakfast was a time when people look forward to the day ahead of them. She looked to her father contentedly as she sipped at her tea. With no missions or obligations at home, today Hinata would spend the day training. But seemingly enough, this was no to be the case.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as something dropped from the ceiling and fell onto the very table that the Hyuuga were eating at. Surprised, Hinata and Hiashi turned on their Byakuugans. To their surprise, it was two dark figures, covered in dirt and other grime.

"Ohayo, Hyuuga-san..." one of the figures said weakly, looking at Hiashi. The Hyuuga eyed the two figures suspiciously, and then finally dropped their guard when they realized who it was.

"Naruto-kun! Are you alright?" Hinata asked, rushing over to the weakened shinobi. After closely looking at the two figures, she realized that they were in an extremely poor predicament. Naruto looked completely drained... and the other shinobi... Uchiha Sasuke, looked extremely pale.

"They're wounded! Tend to them!" Hiashi said sharply to Hinata, looking down at the Uchiha's only survivor. He rushed out of the room in an instant, intending to alert the medic-nins at the hospital.

"What... what happened, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said, whispering. She began to help Naruto up. Naruto stopped her.

"No... help Sasuke..." Naruto croaked, his vision blurred. Hinata turned to look at Sasuke. Then she saw the kunai, lodged deep in Sasuke's chest. Activating her Byakuugan, she looked at his vital signs and saw that he was fading.

As Hinata began to tend to Sasuke, Naruto fainted from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Sasuke kept slipping in and out of consciousness. When he opened his eyes, he saw Hinata's eyes as she treated his wound. However, it was not the pale white eyes of the Hyuuga that he saw. No, what he saw was the sad, pale golden eyes of the mysterious Cloud kunoichi. As Sasuke pondered who this ninja was, everything went black...

_**.: The Next Day :. **_

"It's a good thing that Naruto got him here so quickly," Tsunade said to Jiraiya.

"Will they make a full recovery?" Jiraiya asked.

"Naruto will be fine once he rests for a little. Kyuubi will see to that... As for Sasuke, he might need a week or two before he can return to action," Tsunade said.

Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at the two sleeping ninjas. Tsunade has just finished treating Sasuke. Fortunately for Sasuke, the Cloud ninja had missed his heart by a few inches. Any closer and the wound would have been fatal.

"Though... I don't recall Naruto having mastered _Hiraishin no Jutsu_. (Flying Thunder God Technique.)" Tsunade whispered quietly.

"He had never been successful with it in training. But Naruto has always been able to pull it off when it counts. I figured you would've known that by now," Jiraiya said goodnaturedly.

"I suppose so," Tsunade said with a slight laugh, remembering how Naruto had proven her wrong and mastered the Rasengan, "But it would seem that he can not use the jutsu as efficiently. He ended up exhausting all of his chakra."

"He'll get it down eventually. But Tsunade, I just got the message from Kakashi. The Eastern territories are holding," Jiraiya told her.

"Good. But how many were lost?" Tsunade asked. Jiraiya looked down at the ground and took a breath.

"One hundred fifty-seven," he answered back. Tsunade bit her lip and looked out the window at the rest of Konoha. Already so early into the war, so many young ninjas had been killed. She wondered how many parents would learn that their child wouldn't be returning? How many wives would be missing their husband? How many children would grow up without their parents?

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama?" a small voice said from the outside of the room. Tsunade turned around to see Hinata standing at the doorway.

"Hey Hinata!" Tsunade smiled cheerfully, "The boys are sleeping, but you could stay here with Naruto if you want."

Hinata smiled as Tsunade gave Jiraiya the _look_. Jiraiya nodded and they exited the room. Hinata walked over and sat next to Naruto's bead. She absentmindedly played with the necklace that Naruto had given her when he asked her to be his girlfriend. She always thought it was beautiful and loved it with all her heart. It was a simple chain with a green diamond-shaped amulet hanging at its end. As the sun shined through the window, it passed through the green amulet and reflected onto Naruto's face. The glint from the necklace caused Naruto to shift uncomfortably, eventually waking him up.

"Oy! Hinata! Put that away!" Naruto said with a grumpy expression. Hinata laughed and hid the necklace underneath her shirt.

"Are you feeling okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata said quietly. Naruto yawned and stretched his arms towards the ceiling.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Is Sasuke alright?" Naruto asked with a tired voice.

"Tsunade-sama said he'll be okay in a week or two," Hinata replied. Looking down at Naruto, she worried that he'd be in the hospital bed again sooner or later. She'd seen him like this a couple times before, but it still terrified her to no end.

"That's good," Naruto said sleepily. "Hey Hinata?"

Shaken out of her thoughts, Hinata looked up. "Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm hungry! Did you bring any Ramen?" Naruto said perkilly. Hinata had a flabbergasted look on her face.

"Naruto-kun! You should stop eating ramen! Sakura-chan said you'd die if you kept eating like that," Hinata scolded.

"Aww what does Sakura-chan know?" Naruto said stupidly.

"A whole lot more than you do, baka Naruto!" Sakura said walking into the room. "I don't know what you see in this moron, Hinata!"

Hinata smiled lightly as Sakura began to check up on Sasuke. Sasuke was sound asleep in his bed.

"Sakura-chan! I'm hungry!" Naruto whined.

"Well! Go and take your girlfriend to lunch or something! Tsunade said you're clear to go once you've woken up. And you know the rules, Naruto! You're not allowed to be here unless you're in need of treatment!" Sakura said. Naruto groaned, while Hinata giggled.

"How come you're not allowed here, Naruto?" Hinata asked innocently. Hinata, of course, knew. Over the years, Hinata, Ino, Sakura, Temari, and Tenten had all become very good friends. If one of them knew something, the others knew something. However, Naruto did not know this.

With his eyes big, Naruto quickly covered it up and burst out of bed, "Oh! No reason. Granny Tsunade just got mad at me and wouldn't let me come visit Sakura-chan anymore! Hey! Let's go get some food! My treat, okay?"

As Naruto pulled Hinata out of the room by the wrist, Hinata winked at Sakura and they both laughed.

"Baka Naruto..." Sakura said laughing to herself.

_**.: Ichiraku Ramen :.**_

"Hey Naruto!" the Ramen stand's owner said in a good mood, "Treating your girlfriend to lunch again?"

"Of course, of course!" Naruto said, pulling a chair out for Hinata. They sat down and ordered their usual. With a loud_ "ITADAKIMASU!"_ the two began eating.

"Mmmm! It tastes really good today, old man!" Naruto said happily. "How's yours, Hinata?"

"Oh, it's good! Thank you, sir!" Hinata said to the old man.

"Not at all, not at all! I'm glad you kids like it," the old man replied. He laughed looking at Naruto. He had been wondering if the war would cause him any hardship, but with Naruto around... he'd stay in business for the rest of his life. "So how was your mission, Naruto?"

"It was great! You should've seen it, old man! One night when we were sleeping, I heard a noise and we went to go figure out what it was. Sasuke and Neji didn't believe me that there was anything out there, but there was! We got ambushed by 200 Cloud ninja! Fuzzy Eyebrows was scared, but I handled it. I used my Exploding Clone technique and blew up a lot of them! It was great!" Naruto went on... "We would've taken all of them if that idiot Sasuke didn't almost get himself killed!"

"HO! Good job, Naruto!" the old man said approvingly. Hinata nodded in agreement as Naruto looked pretty pleased with himself.

"Hinata!" a woman's voice called from behind them. Naruto and Hinata turned around to see Hinata's former Jounin sensei, Kurenai.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata exclaimed and ran over to her.

"Good morning, Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto said with a happy voice. He continued to work on his Ramen while Kurenai and Hinata began talking outside of the Ramen stand.

"Where's Ayame, old man?" Naruto asked in between slurps of Ramen.

"Didn't we tell you? She and Sukima were married last week!" the old man said happily. Sukima was a Chuunin. Naruto had met him a few times, but remembered when he was thrown out of his first Chuunin exam for cheating.

"What?" Naruto said, spitting out his food. "They've only been dating nine months!"

"Well. With the war starting, they didn't want to take any chances," the old man said softly. "Say... you and Hinata have been dating for about three years. Don't you think you two should marry?"

"What!" Naruto burst out. "I'm only twenty-one! I can't get married yet!"

"We're at war though, Naruto... Tomorrow you could die. Who knows what can happen?" the old man lectured. "But it's up to you though. Just passing along some friendly advice."

Naruto put down his food and began to think. _"Hinata and I _have_ been dating a long time. Maybe he's right?"_

"Well, I'll see you later, Hinata!" Kurenai said, walking off. "Bye Naruto!"

"Bye Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto muttered. Hinata sat next to Naruto once again.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. "This is the first time you've never finished your food."

"Oh it's nothing. That damn Granny probably slipped something in my IV," Naruto muttered. "Well, you want to go for a walk?"

"Sure! I'm all done too," Hinata replied. "Thanks for the meal, sir!"

"No problem kids!" the old man answered back. "I'll see you two later!"

"Bye!" Naruto said as the two of them sat up and walked out of the stand and down the street.

The old man looked at them with a smile on his face... "Kids these days..."

_**.: At the Training Fields :.**_

"I haven't been here in eight months!" Naruto said excitedly, looking at the wooden posts scattered around the small field. Hand in hand, Naruto and Hinata walked throughout the meadow, peacefully looking around. Hinata smiled and fondly remembered when she and Naruto talked here before his match with Neji. They continued to walk until they reached a small patch of flowers.

"Let's sit down, Hinata!' Naruto announced. She nodded and they lay down beside the patch of flowers. Naruto lay down and looked up at the skies.

"Wow. Now I know why Shikamaru likes to look at the clouds," Naruto commented. Hinata simply nodded in agreement. It was a very pleasant day today. The sun was shining high overhead with several white, fluffy clouds just hanging in the sky. Birds were chirping and bees were buzzing. Everything in Konoha seemed to be perfectly at ease. One wouldn't have thought the village was at war.

"When do you have to go back?" Hinata asked.

Naruto scowled and said, "I don't know, actually. Probably when Sasuke's done healing. Why? Are you going to miss me when I'm gone?"

Hinata blushed and said shyly, "Of course I will Naruto-kun. It's too quiet with you gone."

Naruto laughed and they just lay in the flowers for a few minutes. He was really enjoying himself at the moment. As much as he loved going on missions, he loved Hinata a lot more. He began to remember when they had their first date.

_**.: Three years ago in the same Training Fields :.**_

_"RASENGAN!" Naruto yelled as he slammed the spiralling blue ball of chakra into Kakashi. Kakashi spiralled and flew back into a tree._

_"I got you, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yammered happily. Then with a look of surpise, there was a _POOF_ and Kakashi turned into an old, mangled up log. _

_"Did you really, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, reading his favorite book, Come Come Paradise. "You really should stop rushing in unless you know that you can hit them. But anyways, I've got to get going. I'm late for a meeting with Hokage-sama.'_

_"Alright then," Naruto sighed unhappily as Kakashi sped off, book in hand. 'Now who am I going to train with.'_

_In the bushes, five pairs of eyes were watching Naruto as he yawned and patted his stomach. One of the pairs of eyes was glancing at the others, looking extremely worried. Naruto was oblivious to the attention he was getting. Well, he sensed someone was around but since there were often many ninjas training in the area, there was always someone in the general vicinity._

_'See, Hinata? Just go up there and ask him for a date!" one voice whispered to the nervous pair of eyes._

_"I-I-I'm not s-s-sure about this!" Hinata stammered. _

_"That won't work, Ino. Naruto's too busy to train!" another pair of eyes said, "Neji and Lee never want to do anything else when they're busy training."_

_"Yeah, Tenten's right. You gotta think of something else," the fourth pair of eyes chimed in. "Got any ideas, Sakura?"_

_"I sure do! Temari, hand me that picnic basket I brought," the last pair of eyes said._

_"But that's our food!" Ino moaned indignantly._

_"This is for love!" Sakura spat at Ino. The nervous pair of eyes stepped on a twig and Naruto shot a look toward the bush they were hiding in. _

_"Is someone there?" Naruto asked. "If it's Kiba trying to play a joke on me, I'll kick your ass just like I did when we were kids!"_

_Much to the nervous pair of eyes' chagrin, she was handed the picnic basket and shoved into the clearing. It was a light push, but it felt to her as if she was thrown into a den of lions with nothing but a fork to fight them all off with. She looked up at the blonde-haired shinobi with a look of fear and shock. The four pairs of eyes giggled loudly to themselves and quickly relocated to another bush to watch._

_"Sakura! That was so mean! Now what is she going to do?" Ino said, trying to hold in her laughter._

_"I know Naruto. He's just finished training and Hinata's got something he wants." Salura whispered, as they all watched Naruto approached Hinata._

_"Oh hey, Hinata! What's that in your hand?" Naruto asked, motioning toward the picnic basket. Hinata looked as if she was going to faint._

_"What a pervert! Hinata's not the type of girl to do that, Sakura! When Naruto finishes training, he wants to have...?"_

_"RAMEN!" Naruto exclaimed happily, when Hinata opened up the picnic basket, cutting off what Ino was saying, "How did you know my favorite food was Ramen?"_

_"I-I-I just had a good g-g-guess," Hinata let out weakly. "D-D-Do y-y-you w-w-want to share some with me?"_

_"Of course!" Naruto cheerfully replied, taking her hand, "I'll go show you my favorite spot to eat!"_

_The four pairs of eyes laughed as Hinata was lead off by Naruto._

**.: Back to the present... :.**

Naruto and Hinata just lay on the grass for a couple hours. After awhile, Hinata fell asleep in Naruto's arms as Naruto lay peacefully, looking at the seemingly frail young woman in his arms. He was just thinking of the things Iruka and the Ramen stand owner were telling him.

_"Well. With the war starting, they didn't want to take any chances," the old man said softly. "Say... you and Hinata have been dating for about three years. Don't you think you two should marry?"_

_"What!" Naruto burst out. "I'm only twenty-one! I can't get married yet!"_

_"We're at war though, Naruto... Tomorrow you could die. Who knows what can happen?" the old man lectured. "But it's up to you though. Just passing along some friendly advice."_

"_Well, even though you two are very young, the life of a ninja can be cut short any time," Iruka lectured._

"Should I marry you?" Naruto said to the sleeping Hinata.

"Uh huh..." Hinata murmured. Naruto looked incredulous.

"What?" Naruto said flabbergasted. Hinata gave no answer. She was sound asleep and Naruto smiled down at her. He really loved Hinata and would kill if someone were to ever hurt her. As the sun began to set, Hinata shivered and Naruto spread his jacket around her.

"Hinata.." Naruto whispered in Hinata's ear, "It's getting late."

Hinata's eyes slowly opened and she yawned a little bit. "I don't have to be home for a little while. Are you hungry, Naruto?"

"No. I'm still full from the Ramen. Are you?" Naruto asked her.

"No. I'm still full too. Let's just stay here a little longer, " Hinata replied. The two watched the sunset as Hinata slid her hand to hold Naruto's. Eventually it started to get dark.

"Well, it's getting late. Let me walk you home," Naruto said. Hinata nodded and they got up to walk the path toward the Hyuuga house. Hinata and Naruto walked as they continued to hold hands. Along the way, Naruto was unusually very quiet as he thought about whether he should propose to Hinata.

"You're really quiet, Naruto-kun," Hinata said softly, "Is everything alright?"

The two arrived at her house. Naruto kissed her and beamed at her.

"Everything's perfect."

**.: An Hour Later :.**

Sakura had just finished her shift at the hospital. It had been a tough day, but the past day had seen many injured shinobi. She must've seen ten times the amount of patients she normally would have in peace time. But she was home now and was lying peacefully in her bed when there was a loud **KNOCK KNOCK **at the door. She looked at her alarm clock on the nightstand. It was actually only seven p.m., but she was still pretty exhausted from being at the hospital. Sakura was irritated that she didn't live with her parents anymore and didn't have her mother to answer the door. She willed herself out of bed and looked through the peephole. It was Naruto. Irritated, she flung open the door.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, NARUTO?" Sakura said impatiently, "I want to go to sleep!"

Ignoring her, Naruto looked at Sakura and said, "Sakura-chan... I need you to help me find a ring."

**Author's Note**

Sorry about the LLLOOOOOOOONG wait. I had writer's block for awhile. Plus school was a pain in the ass. I've got my ideas flowing again. Expect an update in the next few days.


	8. C7: Desert Requiem

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Seven: Desert Requiem**

_**Year: 21AK (21 Years after Kyuubi Attack)**_

Kankurou raised his arm and gave the signal to the Chuunins under his command. It would appear that the enemy was sound asleep in their camps. Tonight would be the first attack of the Allied Forces of the Sand and Leaf. Darkness surrounded the troops that hid secretly in the caves above the encampment of the Hidden Stone. The moon gave Kankurou an eerie chill but he wrote a quick note on a scroll and handed it to one of his subordinates.

"Give this to Tenten," he said and the Sand shinobi was gone in a matter of seconds. Kankurou surveyed his units. Most of them were hardened veterans who had fought against Konoha nearly a decade ago. They were the best the Sand had to offer. However, the Sand did not have too many ninjas like these. Where the Sand probably had 200 Jounins, Konoha had nearly triple that amount. Kankurou muttered to himself about his annoyance with the military buildup. The quality of the ninja had not risen as much since quantity seemed to matter more these days. But still, there were some very powerful shinobi such as Hyuuga Neji or his brother, Gaara.

"Kankurou-sama! When will the attack begin?" one of the Chuunins whispered quietly. "We've been waiting here for hours."

"The attack will commence when I get the signal from Gai," Kankurou replied. He knew the attack would come very soon though, so he held a scroll in his hand. While Kankurou was mostly a one-on-one fighter, he had lately developed puppets who could attack on a large scale and function as melee types. He looked around at the ninjas around him. There was a total of about forty of them. The rest were with Gai. Kankurou was feeling pretty confident about his unit though. They complemented eachother very well. About ten or so were puppet users with the rest being taijitsu specialists. He felt that the taijitsu specialists would help out the puppet-user's close range weakness. He was to be working with Tenten tonight for her long-range abilities would come in handy as well.

"Tenten-san is on her way, sir! She sends word that the attack will begin shortly!" the Sand shinobi who delivered the scroll to Tenten said on his return. Before Kankurou could acknowledge this, he saw the signal down below from Gai:

**"SXTH GATE: VIEW GATE OPEN!" **called a loud voice that was no doubt Gai. Kankurou saw a bright flash of green zoom toward the enemy encampment as explosive kunai were hurled at the sleeping Stone shinobi. An alarm immediately sounded amid various explosions.

"That's the signal! Let's go!" Kankurou said, rolling his eyes. Gai certainly wasted no time rushing into the enemy camp. Behind him, Tenten arrived and began to follow him from the rear. A steady stream of a couple hundred Stone shinobi began to pour out of the encampment to meet the enemy Sand and Leaf. Kankurou unraveled the scroll he had been holding in his hand as the taijutsu specialists rushed ahead of him. The other puppet users did the same and in a few instants, dozens of puppets were running around in the field. The puppet users were camoflauged with their black clothing as they all separated to go fight. Tenten went along with Kankurou.

"You ready?" Tenten asked, pulling out her own scrolls.

"You bet!" Kankurou said as his puppet, Ryu, POOFED out of thin air. It was a purple, wooden dragon with various holes in its side, which were presumably traps. Two of the taijutsu fighters flanked Kankurou as they rushed into the center, attempting to rendezvous with Gai.

Ryu was the only puppet Kankurou had used since his fight with Sasori many years ago. However, it had never failed him and was a better puppet than the ones he previously had. It had a thin-snake like body with four legs and a tail. It also had a gaping mouth with sharp teeth drenched in a liquid substance. Kankurou's time learning from Konoha's ANBU allowed him to add innovations to Ryu that only his puppet had. Rumors swirled that it had the ability to create fire.

"Doton: Retsudotensho! (Earth Release: Split Earth Turn Around Palm)," a voice yelled out from up ahead. In seconds, the ground began to churn and rocks twisted up at the taijutsu flankers, Kankurou, and Tenten. All four lept out of the way as two Stone shinobi emerged from the darkness.

"Well, well... Kankurou of the Sand," one of the Stone shinobi said smoothly. Kankurou glared at the two shinobi. One was wearing a brown Jounin's vest and did not wear anything different from most ninja. The speaker was middle-aged and had various slashes upon his face. The one who spoke though looked as if he was in his late fifties and lacked a right eye. He spoke with a very rough voice and was built very well. The man's skin was very pale and wore a simple gray kimono and had his forehead protector sewn onto a white sash around his body.

**.: Meanwhile in Konoha :.**

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Yes, Ibiki?" Tsunade replied from her office. She was looking over maps with Jiraiya and Shikamaru. Stress marks were all over their faces and their were large bags underneath their eyes.

"The raid on the enemy camp has begun," Ibiki announced, kneeling up at his leader. "The reports are that everything is going smoothly."

"I see. Hopefully they are able to take that encampment. It's a very strategic point enroute to the Hidden Village of Stone. It would save us the trouble of having to go through the various mountains in the Rock Country."

"Yes. But Tsunade-sama! There was a report that _he_ is fighting among them!" Ibiki said sternly. Jiraiya's shoulders tensed and his face darkened.

"What! He's alive?" Jiraiya exclaimed. Tsunade looked downcast and Shikamaru looked confused.

"Who is... _he_?" Shikamaru asked. Jiraiya and Tsunade looked worried and Tsunade remained silent. Ibiki looked down at the ground.

"He is the Stone's greatest ninja. His skills have declined over the years, but he is still very dangerous. He was once their Tsuchikage but retired at the end of the last wars. He is the Stone's most dangerous shinobi and single-handedly almost conquered the Sand on his own," Jiraiya muttered darkly. "He was once believed to be on par with each of the Sannin. Perhaps even greater."

"What is his name?" Shikamaru asked with a calm voice. Tsunade looked upset at his calmness but surpressed her anger for Shikamaru did not understand just how powerful this shinobi was.

"He is known to the shinobi world as the Opaline Pillar of Stone," Jiraiya explained, "But his real name is..."

**.: Back at the enemy encampment :.**

"Hagane Retsu..." Kankurou said flatly, sizing up his opponent. He had heard stories of the famous Stone ninja and he had seen him in Suna once as a small child during a peace conference. But the fear he felt from seeing the man face to face on the battlefield chilled Kankurou to his very bones.

"I've heard stories of you, Kankurou of the Sand," Retsu said coarsely, "Stories that you are the greatest puppet master since Sasori. I wonder if they're true."

Kankurou and Tenten stood for several moments among the battlefield merely staring at the legendary shinobi in front of them. The taijutsu specialists were unnerved and shivering in front of the large man that looked ready to crush them in any second. Kankurou began to think of strategies on how he'd fight this man, but nothing seemed to work in his mind. His hands flexed as he prepared Ryu for the fight of his life. Looking at the other shinobi standing beside Retsu, he had no idea what to expect from him.

"Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)" Kankurou muttered as a burst of flames was released from Ryu's mouth and sped toward the two ninja. Kankurou watched in anticipation as the fire hit its target and a cloud of smoke appeared. Had the attack worked?

To Kankurou and Tenten's horror, Retsu stood his place as the gray smoke disappeared. No part of his body appeared even damaged. Much of the surrounding area was merely a burn mark on the environment. Retsu however did not even have a singe. The smile on his face twisted into a strange grimace.

"Is that it, Kankurou? I thought you'd give me a greater challenge!" Retsu said mockingly. And with that, he sped toward the four shinobi with a single kunai. In two slashes, the taijutsu specialists were on the ground, bleeding from their necks, their jugulars slashed. Tenten dashed backwards, throwing a kunai with an explosive tag at the Stone shinobi.

"Pitiful," Retsu laughed, catching the kunai and hurling it at Kankurou before the tag exploded.

'BLOCK!' Kankurou's mind screamed to himself as he guided Ryu in front of him. The tag landed inside of the puppet's mouth and promptly exploded. Pieces of the dragon puppet were everywhere and Kankurou was hurled backwards into Tenten. They flew back thirty yards at the bottom of the mountain as Retsu walked towards them.

"Why don't you go find that man in the green jumpsuit? He looks simply atrocious," Retsu said to the shinobi next to him. He nodded and sped off. Retsu turned his attention to the unconscious Kankurou and Tenten. "I was hoping for a good fight. Oh well."

Retsu raised his right hand and then said in a clear voice, "Doton: Daibaku no Jutsu (Earth Release: Great Explosion Technique)."

A large amount of rocks emerged from seemingly nowhere in the ground and sped toward Tenten and Kankurou in what could only be described as a tidal wave. In a few seconds, there was a loud explosion as the rocks collided with Tenten, Kankurou, and the foot of the mountain. Retsu glared at the foot of the mountain and looked to his left.

"Godaime Kazekage... Gaara of the Desert. It's an honor to finally meet you," Retsu said gruffly, sizing down his opponent.

And there was Gaara, a tall, lean young man who appeared differently than the tormented boy from the Chuunin exam many years ago. Here was a fit, lively looking person who no longer had dark rings around his eyes. Since losing the Shukaku, he had become much less powerful, but enjoyed many of the pleasures in life, which included sleep. Behind him, Kankurou and Tenten lay on two separate floating clouds of sand.

Gaara walked forward and gave the man a glare. He raised his hand and muttered a jutsu. In seconds, eyes made out of sand appeared around him on the battlefield. He backed up to the foot of the mountain and touched the edge of it. A crackling sound was heard and the sifting of sand replaced it. Gaara had just created new sand.

"Are you ready?" Gaara asked quietly, without emotion. He folded his arms as his newly created sand hovered about him, breaking apart the side of the mountain, continually creating new sand.

**.: Elsewhere in the encampment :.**

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Gai called out as he kicked four Jounin into one another, instantly killing all of them as their skulls crushed. Gai had been fighting for almost an hour and the numbers were still not ceasing. There were grave miscalculations in the number of shinobi at this encampment. Gai then made the decision that it was time to retreat.

'Where are Kankurou and Tenten?' Gai though to himself, 'They were supposed to meet me. Something must be wrong.'

Gai raced towards the foot of the mountain, searching for the two directly under his command. He was becoming quite fatigued and was approaching his limits. He had been using the Gates for quite sometime.

**.: Back to the fight :.**

Gaara grunted as he blocked an earth jutsu, promptly turning the hurled rocks into sand. As the battle went on, Gaara was able to accumulate more sand and gradually become more powerful. Since losing the Shukaku, he had lost the automatic sand defense that made him feared, but he had not lost his control over sand. However, the amount of sand he had was extremely limited for the Shukaku supplied a vast majority of that sand. Fighting against the Earth ninja and turning his rock-based attacks into sand was definately helping him out.

"You are certainly worthy of your name, Gaara of the Desert," Retsu said to his opponent. Retsu was showing no signs of fatigue and rather looked like he was enjoying himself. Retsu had mostly been on the offensive but with Gaara gaining more power as the battle continued, he realized he'd have to end the fight soon. Gaara on the other hand, was laboring and although he was acumulating more available sand, he was running out of chakra. Perhaps with the Shukaku he need not have expended so much chakra, but the fact is that Gaara no longer had the demon within him anymore and had long grown used to fighting without it.

Gaara measured his opponent up and realized if he was to defeat this enemy, he'd have to begin the attack once again. Tenten and Kankurou were still unconscious behind him and he'd have to severely wound or at least stall Retsu until help arrived. So he decided he'd use a combo that had once worked against a certain Sound ninja a decade ago.

"Suna Shigure. (Sand Drizzle)," Gaara said simply. With that, a cloud of sand appeared over Retsu's head and sand began to drizzle downward. Expectedly, Retsu tried to dodge when he found that hands made out of sand were holding his ankles down.

"An excellent decoy," Retsu said with a smile. Gaara stared at him as sand enveloped the large Stone-nin and a large mass of sand appeared. Gaara stretched his hand out and prepared to use the Desert Funeral. However, before he could do that, Retsu yelled out, "Ka no Yoroi (Armour of Fire)."

Gaara stared in amazement as the mass of sand in front of him glowed red. In a few moments, it was no longer a mass of sand, but a giant shard of glass. With a loud crash, Retsu burst out of the glass and Gaara looked at him with a mingled expression of shock and amazement. The high temperatures required to create glass would have been lethal to any other human being trapped in sand, but Retsu seemed to show no problem doing so.

"It's time to end this," Retsu said pleasantly. Gaara prepared himself for the coming jutsu. He was no match for this Stone ninja. He had enjoyed his life for the past several years however. With the Shukaku gone, Gaara was able to live the life of a regular shinobi. He was no longer feared as a menace to the village and had made many great friends. Gaara was determined to live out his life to the bitter end.

"Each of the Five Great Shinobi Villages has their own legendary weapons. I believe you're familiar with Orochimaru of the Sannin in Konoha. He wields the Sword of Kusanagi. I'll give you the honor of falling to the Hidden Village of Stone's most powerful weapon," Retsu announced.

Gaara began to think about his life. He thought about the fight with a blonde Konoha ninja who forever changed his life. He thought about the day the village named him as Kazekage. He thought about the day he lost the Shukaku. He thought about the reception he received when he returned. He was no longer an outcast, but rather... a hero.

With that, Retsu began to glow a translucent color and eventually some strange contusion appeared from his hand. It continued to elongate and Gaara at once knew what the weapon was. It was a metal ball covered in spikes, attached to a chain that was fixed to an iron handle. Retsu's face turned into a sadistic smile and he began to wield his weapon menacingly, waving it back and forth.

"The Mace of Ishiassaiki," Gaara whispered fearfully. Gaara understood that there would be nothing he could do, yet he was determined to give everything he had before the end, and with that, Gaara yelled out, "Shukaku no Tate! (Shield of Shukaku)

In an instant, a figure that appeared like the Shukaku appeared in front of Gaara as Retsu rushed forward and struck with the Mace of Ishiassaiki. To Gaara's astonishment, the mace crashed through the Shukaku shield and struck Gaara in his shoulder. Gaara burst backwards in pain, clutching his shoulder which was clearly broken. Gaara fell to his knees in agony. His Armor of Sand had no effect as the Mace of Ishiassaiki just went straight through. Luckily, the Shield of Shukaku absorbed virtually all of the blow.

"Pathetic," Retsu muttered and raised the mace high above his head. It was a slow moving weapon, actually, but Gaara never in his life needed to be a fast ninja. Retsu swung downward.

His eyes closed...

_Kankurou and Temari landed in front of Gaara. Temari's expression was one of pure concern for Gaara, and perhaps a little fear of Naruto and Sasuke. Kankurou glared at them in defiance._

_"No... Don't fight them," Gaara murmured. Temari and Kankurou turned to look at Gaara in surprise. Gaara continued, "Let's stop."_

_"Gaara..." Kankurou said in surprise. He thought to himself, 'I've never seen Gaara in such a weakened state before.'_

_"Okay," Kankurou said, lifting him off the ground as Temari watched, still concerned. The three Sand siblings looked up to take one last look at Naruto and Sasuke and then sped away._

_As they were bursting away from Konoha, Gaara said, "Temari, Kankurou..."_

_His older siblings looked at him in surprise._

_"I'm sorry..." Gaara whispered softly. Temari and Kankurou looked at eachother with shock._

_"D-Don't worry about it," Kankurou told him._

... as the mace ever so slowly continued to fall toward it's target, Retsu smiled...

_"To work hard and make your own path. That is the only way," Gaara said to Kankurou with his back turned, "... without running away to that lonely isolation. If I do that, then sometime..."_

_Kankurou's eyes began to well up with tears. "Connections with other people... Up till now, for me that was nothing but hatred and intent to kill. And now, even I understand something. Uzumaki Naruto... From fighting and interacting with him, this what I feel he taught me."_

_"He knew the same suffering that I do. And so he taught me I could change the way I live." Kankurou remembered. He looked up at Naruto._

_"Uzumaki Naruto. Please save my brother Gaara."_

The mace hit the body with a sickening thud.

_"Hey, you put us through a lot!' Naruto said loudly as Gaara opened his eyes and let out a breathe of life._

_"For sure, you're always a little brother I always have to worry about eh?" Kankurou said happily. Temari scowled at him._

_"Hey, don't go getting so complacent. Gaara's still Kazekage," she said smartly as Gaara began to get up. "How are you feeling?"_

_Kankurou looked around and saw the crowd. He smiled as everyone began to show the love and appreciation they had for their Kazekage, Gaara._

_"This is great, I wondered if the Kazekage-sama would really die..." one man said, crying._

_"No way Gaara-sama'd die that easily!" his companion said, punching him in the arm._

_"Gaara-sama's a strong, silent-type and good-looking and elite," one girl said._

_"Yeah, yeah, but still there's some cuteness about him, but then he's the Kazekage," another chimed in._

_"Next time, I'll get Gaara-sama out of whatever mess he's in!" a loud, boisterous shinobi let out._

_"No, me!" one man argued._

_"Thank you, Naruto," Kankurou said, watching the scene peacefully._

Gaara opened his eyes.

"It looks like I had good reason to worry about you little brother," a drained voice said.

"And it looks..." the voice continued, "... like I was the lucky one to get you out of the mess you got yourself into..."

Gaara peered up at the man lying across him...

It was not Gaara's life that had flashed before his eyes...

... It was Kankurou's.

Kankurou... the first of the important characters to become a casualty of war... What else will happen in the Fourth Great Shinobi War?


	9. C8: Dark Ambush

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Eight: Dark Ambush**

_**Year: 21AK (21 Years after Kyuubi Attack)**_

"Do you understand your mission?" the voice said in the darkness.

"Yes. I will infiltrate Konoha at dawn and assimilate into their populace," another voice replied. This time it was female.

"Good. Your codename for this mission will be 'Atotori,'" the voice whispered. "Now go."

"Yes sir."

_**.: At the border of the Sand and Stone :.**_

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Gai yelled at his leg crashed into Retsu's face. Retsu flew several yards away, but quickly got back up to face this new opponent. Gai quickly put Kankurou, Gaara, and Tenten onto his shoulders and sprinted away.

"I won't let you get away that easily," Retsu muttered, performing several hand seals.

Gai looked back to see this and muttered to himself, "No choice." And with that, roared, "**SEVENTH GATE: INSANITY GATE OPEN!"**

Retsu watched as Gai began to glow a silver aura and his face contorted in pain. And in a flash of silver, Gai's speed increased exponentially and was too far away from Retsu for a jutsu to work.

"Interesting," Retsu silently mumbled.

_**.: Konoha Hospital :.**_

"So you're finally awake, eh?" Kakashi said as Gai's eyes cracked open.

"Kakashi! My eternal rival! What are you doing here?" Gai exclaimed. "I may be injured, but I'll still defeat you in a wheelchair pushing contest."

"In the state you're in, Gai-sensei, you won't be having any contests for awhile!" Sakura scolded. "So you just lay there and relax!"

"The Explosion of Youth does just lay there and relax!" Gai proudly exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. At least, he tried to pump his fist into the air. It seemed he was wearing a full body cast at the moment.

"Oh I see. Well, I suppose I will have to wait," Gai chuckled. "I did not realize that I had overdone it."

"Mhmm.." Kakashi replied absentmindedly.

"But what are you doing here, Kakashi, if you don't wish to do battle with me in our contests? I am up 103-102 on you, ya know," Gai said.

"Oh, I was just in the neighborhood. There were a couple of hundred refugees I found on my way back to Konoha and promised them shelter," Kakashi said ernestly. "That, and I wanted to check in on how one of my best students was doing."

While Sakura was tending to other patients in the room quietly, deep in her mind a voice rang out, "**_HELL YEAH!!!_**"

"I see. How is everything going on the battlefield?" Gai asked seriously.

"The same. We keep advancing. At this rate, the war should be over in several months. But the Sand's morale is down after what happened to Kankurou and Kazekage-sama." Kakashi replied.

"Hmm. It was a crushing blow to our forces to lose the best puppet-nin in the world," Gai said.

"It's hurt a lot of our students. Naruto has been very quiet lately. He hasn't been eating as much Ramen," Kakashi continued, "But you fought with Hagane Retsu?"

Gai grimaced. "Yes."

"What was he like?" Kakashi asked.

"All the stories are true. He is a man made of iron. Even with the Sixth Gate open, I could not leave a scratch on him. Your Raikiri wouldn't pierce his skin," Gai said quietly.

"I see. Well, I wouldn't use Raikiri against him. I've got a better jutsu up my sleeve. I've been using that Kage Bunshin training that I taught Naruto a few years ago," Kakashi admitted.

"I would expect no less from my eternal rival," Gai said, admiring his friend's confidence. "If you can't defeat him, first I will save you. And then you and I will run around Konoha 10,000 times on our pinkies. Then we will become truly strong!"

"If you say so," Kakashi said, taking _Icha Icha Paradise_ out of his fanny pack.

"THAT BOOK IS FORBIDDEN IN THE HOSPITAL!" Sakura screamed as she grabbed it and threw it out the window.

Kakashi silently seethed at his own absentmindedness. Gai laughed.

_**.: In the Streets of Konoha :.**_

"Wow. This village is so pretty," a raven-haired young woman said to no one. "It's much better than home."

The young woman walked throughout the streets of Konoha, admiring the scenery. Meanwhile, several onlookers were discreetly watching her from a restaurant.

"Who is that girl? I've never seen her before. Who do you think she is, Kiba?" Sai asked his companion.

"Hmm... I don't know either, but she sure is good-looking," Kiba replied. He petted Akamaru, who was sleeping at the foot of his chair.

Indeed she was. The woman had a small, slender frame that captivated the two young men that were watching her. But what was so interesting about this girl was that she had a gorgeous smile. Her smile just lit up the crowded marketplace she was walking through. She wore simple black robes that flowed down to her knees. Her robes didn't have a left sleeve, but her left wrist was adorned with a shiny gold bracelet. Her hair was pulled back into a pony-tail. To top it all off, she had black high heels.

"I'm going to go talk to her," Kiba said, "I'll be right back."

Sai nodded his head as Kiba went to go talk to this young woman.

"Hey, you there!" Kiba called out to the mysterious figure. She turned around.

"Oh, hi. Do you need something, sir?" she said politely.

"Oh nothing. I was just sitting there with my friend," glancing over to Sai as Sai nodded his head in recognition, "and we were just wondering who you were. Are you from this village?"

The girl's face saddened and she looked as if she was about to cry. Kiba became nervous. "No. I used to live on the outskirts of the Fire Country, but it was destroyed in a battle between the Leaf and Cloud."

"I'm sorry about that," Kiba said apologeitcally. "But Konoha is a great village to live in. You're welcome to stay here. Where are you staying?"

"Oh, a man named Kakashi took me to see a Yamato. He _made_ an actual house over by the forest!" the girl said cheerfully. "It was amazing! He was like a magician! But it was the real thing!"

_"Mokuton jutsu?_" Kiba thought to himself. "Wow that's great. Well, if you need anything, you can come ask me or my friend Sai over there. My name's Kiba."

"Well thank you! My name's Kayou," the girl replied, shaking his hand. "But I've got to get going. I have to decorate my new home."

"Alright then. It was nice to meet you," Kiba said.

"Yeah, you too," Kayou said, walking off.

Kiba walked back to Sai and Akamaru at the restaurant. Sai had finished his food already and was just sitting there, drawing something in his sketchpad.

"Well?" Sai asked in a monotone voice, not looking up from his drawing.

"She's one of those refugees that Kakashi found. Very nice girl. I think I'll ask her out to a date!" Kiba said cheerfully.

As Kiba chattered on about Kayou, she rounded a corner and walked into a dark alleyway, laughing to herself.

"What a friendly place," she said with a smile. She wrote something down onto a scroll and performed several hand seals. In an instant, it turned into a small, baby-blue hummingburd and flitted away into the sky.

Kayou had a happy smile on her face, but then looked downcast as she looked at the engagement ring on her finger. As she looked down, she thought to herself, _"I hope you're alright._"

_**.: At the Cloud Country's Border :.**_

Neji sat in his tent quietly, thinking about the Doujutsu that had defeated Sasuke. _"Both my Byakuugan and Sharingan were defeated. What was that? I need to figure out this mystery for myself_."

"ENEMY ATTACK!" one of the sentries outside yelled. Neji turned his Byakuugan on and peered outside of his tent. Hundreds of explosive kunai were being thrown at the Konoha encampment.

_"Oh no!" _Neji thought to himself. "_How did they know we were here?"_

He ran out of the tent and yelled to everyone in the area. "Get as far away from here as you can!"

And with that, Neji burst forward as hundreds of his comrades rushed away from the encampment. The kunai were all still very far away and wouldn't actually hit the encampment for five to ten seconds.

But it was all Neji needed.

Neji ran forward, propelling himself off the ground. Neji yelled out, "_KAITEN!_" as he burst through the air, releasing one strong air current of chakra. The kunai zoomed towards Neji's Kaiten and made a direct hit.

The ninja that were watching from far below could only watch in amazement as Neji released as much chakra as he could to successfully fend off the surprise attack. It wasn't a continuous, 360-degree Kaiten that Neji would normally do. However, he released it as a wave and it created a barrier.

As the kunai struck the Kaiten, they all exploded upon impact and the sky was lit aflame as the devices of destruction came into contact with the only shield against such an attack.

_"It worked..._" Neji thought to himself as he fell from the sky, exhausted. With a resounding thud, Neji hit the ground, with every bone of his body breaking. The sheer heat of the explosions slightly singed Neji's skin, but his Kaiten had indeed been successful.

Neji willed himself to peer forward and see the attackers who were rushing forward. To his surprise, it was only a small army of 100 soldiers rushing down the mountain. Neji somehow managed to stand up, and pull out a kunai.

He was ready.

**Next chapter coming soon: **

Chapter Nine: Suspicion


	10. C9: Suspicion

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Nine: Suspicion**

_**Year: 21AK (21 Years after Kyuubi Attack)**_

Neji gripped his kunai as the Cloud army rushed towards him. Every muscle in Neji's body was completely on fire. What was worse was that Neji was almost completely drained of his chakra. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he panted heavily. The Kaiten had taken a toll, but it was a sacrifice he had to make if he wanted to protect his troops. They were relying on him, just as his comrades in Konoha were doing. He was to sneak into Cloud territory and attack their army from the rear, just as Naruto and Jiraiya would attack them from the front. Unfortunately, they were somehow discovered.

As Neji waited in anticipation, he felt his soldiers rushing forward, hurling kunai at the rushing ninja. Many fell as kunai landed and hit their mark. These men would never rise again, except for when they would be collected later to be buried properly, hours after the battle. As the two armies rushed towards eachother, several figures would be dispersing throughout.

These five figures composed the most powerful ANBU unit in the Cloud's existence. With every step these five made, a monstrous roar could be heard. Neji's eyes watched each of them carefully for they stood out. Not only that, their movements were completely different from the rest of the Cloud army. Whereas the Cloud army rushed forward and directly toward the Konoha and Sand troops that Neji had been commanding, these five weaved in and out, almost zig-zagging in perfect formation.

When the two armies collided, countless shinobi fell. Various katon and raiton jutsus were being utilized and several explosions occured when the two elements combined. Smoke filled the sky, signalling to the surrounding area that there was a great battle about to occur.

Neji eyed his surroundings carefully. The movements of the five Cloud ninja was extremely unusual. It went against the grain of both armies and was not an ideal formation for a melee fight they were engaged in at the moment. In fact, it was similar to the formation a pack of wolves would have used to ensnare a single rabbit. As Neji pondered this, he realized exactly what they were up to. But it was too late, the five Cloud ninja began to converge upon their prey. Neji quickly pulled a soldier pill from his pocket and swallowed it. He would probably not make it out of this battle. The five were gunning for Konoha's Byakuugan.

**.: In Konoha :. **

Kakashi stood motionless in front of the memorial dedicated to the ninja who had died in service. For what seemed like seconds to Kakashi were actually hours as he prepared for the coming battle. Kakashi was going to replace Gai while he healed, while Jiraiya would take the campaign against the Cloud. Kakashi would most assuredly meet Hagane Retsu, one of the most powerful ninja in the world, a man who singlehandedly defeated the Sand's Kazekage and the best puppet-nin and weapon's specialist that the Sand and Leaf could offer.

"Still blaming yourself?" a woman's voice said out of nowhere.

"I was just trying to see if he'd be able to give me any advice," Kakashi said softly, "I should've listened to him so many times."

"Well, can't change the past, Kakashi. Don't spend so much time dwelling on it. Or you'll miss out on the now," Tsunade said, "There were so many years I've missed, trying to forget what happened many years ago."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi said, bowing his head. "Thank you for the advice."

"No problem," Tsunade replied. "But what do you intend to do against Retsu? Orochimaru had once fought him."

"What happened?" Kakashi asked.

"It was a draw," Tsunade explained. "Retsu had to flee as Jiraiya and I arrived to provide Orochimaru some support. He would not be able to defeat all three of us singlehandedly."

"A wise decision," Kakashi said as he absentmindedly fingered a kunai in his hand. "Is there any advice that you can give me?"

"Just don't use Raikiri. The man's skin is truly made out of steel. It is the only thing Kusanagi was never able to pierce."

"I see. Thanks for the advice." Kakashi repeated. "I must be off then."

"Good luck, Kakashi," Tsunade said.

**.: Elsewhere :. **

"The preparations are complete. Our troops are advancing and will be there in three days," the young, dark-eyed Jounin reported. "Atotori has reported in and relayed the information to both us and the Cloud."

"Good," a voice said. "And what of Hiretsu? Is he ready?"

"I spoke with him today. He is ready. This war will be the greatest war the world will ever see. It will need history's greatest warrior. He will come."

"Good."

_**.: Neji's Battle :.**_

Neji grimaced as the Five came at him. They did not foolishly rush in, however. It would seem that they would move toward Neji and allow him to react and sidestep. After many minutes of this did Neji realize that the movements they were using were forcing him away from the battlefield, further isolating him from the rest of his troops. He was alone in this fight now.

Another pattern that the Five used confounded Neji. Every time one would rush forward, the others remained, and then the one would rush backwards. Then another would repeat the same movement. This process was continually repeated as they spiraled around Neji. But this time, Neji figured out that they were testing Neji's reactions. Countless stories had been told of the Byakuugan of Konoha. The 360 degree field of vision was certainly being tested.

"Are you ready, Hyuuga?" a man announced. The man was a tall, broad-shouldered figure. He wore a simple Jounin's vest, black shorts with fishnets, and had his forehead protector wrapped around his head in a bandana. His arms were covered in tattoos, with a large, angry gorilla upon his tricep. Everything about this man was loud and angry. Even his voice boomed and rumbled.

"You first, Yamazaru-sama," the smallest of the bunch piped up. The booming one, Yamazaru, smiled and burst forward. Neji scowled as he raised his kunai and braced himself for the powerful-looking ninja, who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"_Ikazuchi no Mai (_Thunder Dance)," the man simply said as he performed several hand seals. With that, the air around Neji begin to quake and Neji began to feel disoriented and lose his sense of balance. Yamazaru rushed forward and took advantage, punching Neji in the gut, sending him flying.

Neji righted himself in midair and somersaulted, landing on his own two feet. He panted and stared back at his opponent. _"He's fast," _Neji thought to himself. "_And strong too._"

With that, Neji stared at Yamazaru's chakra points and shot forward. He began aiming at them to send chakra, yelling _"__Hakke Rokujūyon Shō_ (Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)."

But as Neji attempted to strike at Yamazaru's chakra points, Yamazaru weaved away from every single strike. After the 34th strike, Neji grew angry and lost his composure and simply yelled, "_Kaiten!_"

Yamazaru got knocked back about 10 yards away. He fell to the ground, but propped himself back up. His mouth was bleeding, but he didn't care and simply licked the blood off his lips. He looked at the other four around him. Yamazaru laughed and snapped his fingers. At that moment, the remaining four burst forward and attacked Neji from all angles.

It was simple taijutsu and the other four weren't as nearly as good as Yamazaru. Neji was too spent from doing another Kaiten and absorbed many of their blows. Eventually, he could no longer dodge and was simply getting pummeled back and forth between the four. But as Neji kept getting pummelled, he watched for a weakness in the four.

He found none as he realized that they worked in perfect harmony to dissect Konoha's vaunted Byakuugan-user. But after several seconds through his painstaking beating, he noticed a hole in their teamwork. It would seem that the smallest one was not attacking as often and as visciously as the other three. With that, Neji parried a punch, ducked a kick, and aimed toward the heart of the smallest of the Five.

Time stopped as Neji struck his opponent. The young ninja was very small and could not have been more than thirteen years old. As the other three kicked Neji yards away, the young ninja fell to the ground, bleeding from the mouth. Yamazaru stopped smiling as they all converged upon their fallen comrade. As this happened, various Konoha ninja rushed to Neji's aide.

Yamazaru picked up the young ninja who was still breathing and muttered, "Stay alive kid."

The three other ninja looked concerned and looked to their leader for guidance. Yamazaru surveyed the battlefield. His troops had lost, but his mission of killing off the Byakuugan-user had failed. There were too many Konoha ninja in the area to contend with. The 100 Cloud ninja he had been given was simply not enough. They were nearly all dead. He gave the nod, and the five zoomed away from the battlefield.

As the Cloud army was retreating and the Konoha ninja tended to Neji, he glared as the Five sprinted away.

Yamazaru looked concerned as they were jumping from tree to tree in the dark night. As the boy in his arms struggled to keep his eyes open, Yamazaru whispered, "Good soldier, good soldier."

_**.: In Konoha :.**_

"So how did they find out about our task force?" Tsunade asked Shikamaru. "There's no way that they could've found them on their own."

"Do you think it was a spy, Tsunade-sama?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes. There's no doubt. We have a spy in our midst," Tsunade concluded.

**.: Elsewhere in Konoha :.**

Kayou smiled as a black hummingbird descended toward her and with a small -_POOF­_- turned into a small scroll.

**NEXT CHAPTER:**

Chapter Ten: Kakashi, Konoha's Elite Jounin


	11. C10: Kakashi, Konoha's Elite Jounin

**"Where the Konoha Dance…"**

By Wubbie

**_NOTICE: _**Naruto does not belong to me. I wish it did, because there are a couple things I wish were done differently. However, give credit where it's due… Naruto was written by Masashi Kishimoto, and published by Shonin Jump! It's currently being licensed in the United States, so I just wanted to say that I claim no ownership to anything in here. I'm just borrowing characters and making up my own story. Well, here we go…

NOTE: I don't want to take up more space in the chapter than I need to for author's notes and shoutouts and stuff. So therefore, I'll place them all in the FIRST author's note page. That way, anyone who had a question or something can just go there and others won't be bothered to see it.

**Chapter Ten: Kakashi, Konoha's Elite Jounin**

**Part One of Operation Ignition**

**_Year: 21AK (21 Years after Kyuubi Attack)_**

"Good luck, my eternal rival, Kakashi!" Gai said on crutches at the Konoha gates. Kakashi gave him a nod and was off.

The morning was cold and frigid. Kakashi shivered as he began his 6 day journey toward the Rock country. As he raced through the woods outside Konoha, he noticed the small bits of frost upon each of the leaves. It never snowed in the Fire country and Kakashi determined that it could only be an omen of things to come.

Kakashi had to hurry, however. Operation Ignition would begin in a week. Tsunade was already there, making preparations with Shikamaru. This operation would most likely be the one that finished off the Stone and Cloud armies for good. But Konoha was relying on Kakashi, their best Jounin to face off against the army of Hagane Retsu. Kakashi clenched his hands as he began to think about the fight he would most assuredly have with the legendary Stone-nin.

**.: Elsewhere in the village :.**

"I don't know, Sakura-chan. Will Hinata like that one?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I like it," Sakura replied.

"I don't care if you like it! I care if Hinata likes it!" Naruto shot back.

"Hey! Do you want me to help you or not?" Sakura said, starting to grow irritated.

Naruto and Sakura were at a jewelery store in the village. Naruto only had an hour before he had to head toward the Cloud village. But he should have had enough time, well.. that's what he had planned on. Apparently it was taking longer than it should have. They had probably gone through the store about eleven or twelve times looking for what Naruto deemed the _perfect_ ring.

"How about this one, sir?" the salesman said, pulling out a platinum-colored ring with a huge, sparkling diamond that reflected Naruto's blue eyes at him.

"Wow! That ring is so pretty!" Sakura exclaimed. Naruto gazed at it for several moments.

Finally, he said, "I don't like it. Next!"

The salesman looked exasperated and walked over to one of the other employees at the store. "Can you help these customers out? I haven't been able to find anything for them."

The woman shrugged her shoulders and walked over to them. The woman was very friendly and flashed a very pretty smile at Naruto. Naruto blushed when she looked at him. Sakura hit Naruto in the back of the head.

"Don't look at her like that, Naruto! Especially when you're buying an engagement ring for Hinata!" Sakura yelled angrilly.

"Yeah, yeah..." Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hi, my name is Kayou. Is there anything I can help you with today?" the saleswoman said to Naruto and Sakura.

"My friend's looking for an engagement ring for his girlfriend," Sakura piped.

"Oh I see. And you haven't found anything you like?" Kayou questioned.

"Hm, not yet. But I've got to hurry. I have a mission to the Cloud country in an hour," Naruto announced.

"Well, it's not really a matter of picking an engagement ring from a box and saying it looks nice," Kayou started. "You have to really think about why you want to marry her. That's how my fiancee found this ring for me."

With that, Kayou flashed the ring on her finger to Naruto and Sakura. The two were amazed at how beautiful it was. It was a simple, elegant ring, yet seemed to have some sort of extravagancy on it. Kayou then pointed to the rings that were on display again.

"So just think about why you love her and I'm sure you'll find one that you like," Kayou repeated. Naruto relaxed and just began to think for several minutes about Hinata. Finally, he looked up and scanned the rings for a few seconds.

"That one!" Naruto said excitedly. "How come I never saw it before?"

"Wow! That one is amazing!" Sakura said in agreement. "We must've missed it!"

"I'll take it!" Naruto announced happily. Kayou smiled as Naruto handed her the money. Naruto gazed at the ring and placed it into the small box that Kayou handed him. "Thanks a lot, mam!"

"No problem, sir. Have a nice day!" Kayou said Naruto and Sakura walked out of the store. The original salesman walked over to her.

"How did you do that? I showed them that ring three times!" the salesman said, looking flustered.

"Well, I have a way with words," Kayou said cheerfully. "Can I take my lunch break now?"

"Sure, go ahead," the salesman said, waving her off.

Kayou smiled and walked out of the store to go find something to eat. She searched the skies for any sign of a black hummingbird, but to no avail. Today, there was no message. She looked downcast.

_"So you've begun your mission already, haven't you Kaichou?"_ Kayou said sadly. "_I would've thought you would send word first_."

As Kayou walked off, dejectedly, she heard a slight flutter from behind her. She turned around to see a black hummingbird that suddenly _-POOFED_- into a small scroll of parchment. She picked it up happily and walked off.

"_Oops!_" she thought to herself.

_**.: A Week Later in the Rock Country :.**_

Kakashi ducked as three kunai were hurled in his direction. In an instant, his Sharingan was flashed on as he glared at his attackers. It was a team of three Chuunin. Various Konoha ninja rushed behind Kakashi, but he waved them off.

"I'll take care of them. You guys have to get to their supply base and wipe it out. Now go!" Kakashi ordered as he faced off against the three Stone ninja. The Konoha Chuunin under Kakashi's command ran in the other direction towards the supply base Kakashi spoke of.

Silently, Kakashi burst forward to attack the three Stone ninjas. In seconds, the three scattered and surrounded him. The first one performed a series of handseals and let forth a Doton ninjutsu that caused the ground underneath Kakashi to crumble. Kakashi leapt away, but the second Stone-nin threw a kunai with an explosive tag on it. Kakashi caught it with his pinky, twirled it around, and threw it at the third one. With a loud explosion, the third Stone ninja was blasted and the ground was charred black from where the Chuunin once stood.

The two remaining Stone ninja seethed in anger. The first ninja who performed the Doton rushed forward, followed seconds later by the second. Kakashi eyed both of them with his Sharingan. They were way too slow for him. Every punch and kick they threw was as if they were in slow-motion. Kakashi weaved a punch and sidestepped the second ninja, pulling out his kunai and slicing the second ninja's throat. The first Chuunin howled in anger as he backed away and threw another explosive tag at Kakashi.

Kakashi picked up the fallen second ninja and threw the corpse toward the explosive tag. As the tag hit the corpse, it blew apart. In the confusion of it all, Kakashi appeared behind the remaining Stone Chuunin and left several kunai sticking from the man's back.

Kakashi put the kunai back into his fanny pack and continued on into the battlefield.

_**.: In Another Part of the Battlefield :.**_

"This way! All the Konoha ninja are over here!" a Stone ninja yelled to his comrades, pointing toward a small encampment of tents.

A hundred Stone ninja were heard stampeding towards the Konoha base. A figure in one of the tents smiled as he walked out. He threw a bright flare into the air. Everyone of the Stone ninja were blinded as the flare went off. Fifty other Konoha Chuunins and Jounins made their way out of the tents.

"And they fell right into my trap. _Kage Mane no Jutsu!_" Shikamaru said cheerfully. As his shadow stretched out toward the several hundred Stone ninja, the Konoha Chuunins and Jounins rushed forward, drawing kunai.

In seconds, the hundred Stone ninja were immobilized. They could not move as fifty weapons specialists hurled kunai at their faces. Just a moment before the kunai hit, Shikamaru let go of the jutsu. None of the Stone ninja survived the onslaught.

"Let's go!" Shikamaru said. "We've got work to do. That was only a task force sent to look for us!"

_**.: Yet somewhere else on the Battlefield :.**_

Tsunade punched a Stone ninja in the face. As this happened, he flew back about fifty yards and crashed into six other Stone-nin. Konoha's Godaime was showing clearly why she was the most powerful ninja in her village. Tsunade brushed her bangs back and flashed a smile at the 3 ANBU captains who were following her, watching her back.

"Good job, Tsunade-sama!" One ANBU captain yelled.

"Amazing," another said.

"_Doton: Retsudotenshō_! (Split Earth Turn Around Palm)" a woman's voice cried out. In an instant, several rocks flew by and crashed into the three ANBU captains.

"No!" Tsunade said, with an arm reaching toward her three fallen captains. As she threw the rocks covering their crushed bodies aside, she realized there was nothing that even she could heal. They were dead. A single tear drop fell from Tsunade's eyes as she looked at their crushed bodies. She removed their masks and memorized their faces.

"You can't heal everyone, Tsunade!" the assailant called out from atop a large boulder.

"_That voice!_" Tsunade thought to herself. She turned to face the opponent. When she did, she realized who it was. After all these years...

"Tsuchikage..." Tsunade said.

"No need to get so formal, Tsunade. We've been friends since childhood. You know my name's Anshin. Always has, and always will be," said the Stone's most powerful ninja.

_**.: At the Supply Base :.**_

Kakashi arrived just outside the supply base, right on schedule. But something was strange. It was too quiet. He entered the supply base and looked around. It was dark. The moonlight shone above as Kakashi surveyed the area. The supply base was a simple fort with various small buildings inside of it, holding food, weapons, and sleeping quarters. It was the perfect spot for Kakashi to ambushed. He walked forward and looked around.

"_They should've been here," _Kakashi thought to himself. He rounded several corners. Amidst the darkness, Kakashi stood with his right hand clutching his kunai, and his left hand ready to throw a shuriken at anything that moved. The only sound that Kakashi could hear was his own breathing. But then he realized there was someone else there.

_"When in doubt, trust your nose," _were the words that his father told him. With that, he closed his eyes and began to sniff the air. "_Blood!_"

Kakashi ran throughout the complex, following the faint smell of blood in the air. Kakashi was Konoha's best at tracking down unknown targets. Even better than Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata. They paled in comparison to Hatake Kakashi, the son of the White Fang. And then he found his comrades.

"Ahh, I thought I heard someone in here," the man said. Kakashi's eyes hardened as he stared at the man whose dark skin was illuminated by the moonlight.

"Hagane Retsu," Kakashi simply said. "I've been wondering when I'd find you."

"Copy Ninja Kakashi..." Retsu mocked. "What an honor. I've heard so many stories about you. Maybe even more powerful than your father."

Kakashi looked down at Retsu's feet. The dozen Chuunin that were with Kakashi were now dead. As Kakashi gazed down at the dead Chuunin, several teams of Stone ninja arrived on the scene. Kakashi silently seethed in hatred as he stared at his fallen subordinates. But he wasn't the only one. Retsu looked angry.

"I said to go engage the enemy at the Two Bridges!" Retsu screamed at the troops. "I don't need any of you pathetic fools here."

With that, the Stone ninja ran in the opposite direction. Kakashi's eyes remained hardened as he stared at Retsu. The two combatants stared at eachother for several minutes, as they circled one another. Retsu kicked what was left of the dozen massacred Chuunin away and into a far wall. With a violent thud, they fell to the ground. Kakashi's face did not show any emotion as his grip on his kunai tightened.

"Shall we begin?" Retsu asked.

_**.: The Kage Battle :.**_

"You've gotten stronger!" Anshin said as she grappled with Tsunade upon a large stone rock. Anshin looked to be in her late twenties, but she disguised her appearance as Tsunade did. She had light brown hair and black eyes. She was even dressed similarily as Tsunade was, except perhaps that she wore a brown jounin vest.

Tsunade pushed off and attempted to kick at Anshin's midsection. Anshin caught Tsunade's leg and punched her straight in the jaw. Tsunade stumbled backwards as she winced in pain. As Anshin rushed forward to capitalize on her foe, Tsunade sidestepped and grabbed Anshin's vest to pull her out of balance. As Anshin stumbled, Tsunade kneed her in her rib cage. Tsunade then activated her chakra scalpel and attempted to attack Anshin's heart.

"I'm not that easy!" Anshin said as she slapped away the Chakra Scalpel and burst forward. Anshin threw an elbow into Tsunade's cheek which sent her reeling. As Tsunade was the greatest medical ninja in the history of the shinobi world, then it could be said that Anshin, the Sixth Tsuchikage, was the greatest psychiatrist to ever live. Anshin was unsurpassed in battle psychology, but was also unequaled in her ability to attack the mind and the five senses.

"I've developed some new jutsu, Tsunade," Anshin said as her hand glowed with chakra. Anshin slapped Tsunade which sent her flying backwards into some tall grass. Tsunade shot back up immediately but something was wrong. It was as if...

"..it's as if you've drunken too much sake, isn't it Tsunade-hime?" Anshin mocked. "You're experiencing symptoms of vertigo right now. How well do you perform when you can't tell left from right?"

Tsunade responded as she zoomed straight into Anshin's face and slammed her fist square in the nose. "Being Hokage and having to deal with Uzumaki Naruto, I'm always drinking sake. I can punch anything I want when I'm disoriented!"

Anshin looked up from the grass. Her eyes were red as her nose began to bleed. "That hurt! I'll make you pay for that!"

With that, she started performing several handseals. Tsunade did the same as the two prepared to unleash their own signature jutsu upon one another.

_"Shinten no Jutsu!_" Anshin yelled as Tsunade also yelled, "_Tenshin no Jutsu!_"

With that, two white beams of light enveloped both users and hit both of them. Both Kage were floored as the technique hit one another. Tsunade began to scream as the worst memories of her life were being relived in her mind. She screamed as she saw Dan's body drenched with blood.

_"Hang in there, Dan!_" _Tsunade said._

_"Tsunade, I don't want to die yet..." Dan gasped. "I still have a lot of things to do..."_

_"Don't talk, Dan!" Tsunade screamed._

_"I can't die here..." Dan said weakly._

_"Don't worry, I stopped the bleeding..." Tsunade pleaded. "You're okay, now. You'll make it through this, Dan!"_

_"I see..." Dan said in barely a whisper. "I'm glad..."_

_"Dan! Hang in there, Dan! Damn it! Stop coming out! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!"_

_"Stop! He's already dead!" their comrade said. _

_Tsunade looked at the blood at her hands as Dan lay dead in front of her in a pool of his own blood. Tsunade screamed into the cold, rainy night._

She could not stop the memories from flooding. Anshin on the other hand was down and not moving. Tsunade's jutsu had temporarily stopped all of Anshin's muscles from moving. In addition, every nerve in her body was on fire.

For several long moments, the two women were screaming amidst the cold ground in the battlefield, incapacitated. The assault on Tsunade's mind and Anashin's body signalled a stalemate for the time being. The two woman, once friends, were down and out for the count.

_**.: Kakashi vs. Retsu :.**_

Retsu was impressed. Kakashi was perhaps the strongest shinobi he had ever faced. More powerful than even Orochimaru was many years ago.

"You live up to your reputation. It's been a long time since I've had such a great fight," Retsu said as he faced Kakashi. Kakashi glared back at Retsu. Several years ago, he would've been winded, and perhaps even defeated. But the training and battles he had undergone while fighting Akatsuki had made him stronger than he ever was before. Kakashi was now considered an elite ninja, onpar with even the Sannin.

"I've fought your father once, Kakashi. He was an outstanding ninja," Retsu said. Kakashi showed no emotion to the man. "I hope we can have as glorious a fight as I did many years ago with him."

Kakashi ignored him and threw several shuriken. As Retsu dodged them, Kakashi launched a series of Taijutsu combos that he had picked up from Gai. Retsu blocked many of the blows but Kakashi was still able to sneak a couple in. Unfortunately, Retsu did not have a single scratch on him after the onslaught.

"Very nice. But how will you do against my mace?" Retsu wondered aloud. As he said this, a mace elongated and appeared from his arm. Kakashi sighed as he drew his kunai once again.

Retsu rushed forward and swung the mace at Kakashi's face. Thanks to the Sharingan, Kakashi was able to dodge and avoid every swing of the mace. After several swings, Retsu dropped his hand and and threw a kunai at point blank range, hitting Kakashi right in the chest. Kakashi fell to the ground in pain.

"I got you now!" Retsu said as he was ready to hit the deciding blow. Kakashi's hand glowed as he charged up his Raikiri. As Retsu swung the mace downward at Kakashi, Kakashi burst forward toward Retsu and landed a Raikiri upon the Stone ninja's thigh.

Retsu shrieked as his skin was punctured for the first time. The damage was still very small, however, but it was enough of a counter for Kakashi to gain distance and recover himself. Kakashi pulled the kunai lodged in his chest and the small book that was in his breast pocket. The book _Come Come Paradise_ had been in Kakashi's breast pocket, shielding his heart from Retsu's surprise attack. He smiled and placed the book into his fanny pack.

.: **_Elsewhere :._**

Shikamaru signalled his hand up. The Chuunin and Jounin following him stopped in their tracks. He pointed to the ground. Immediately everyone sunk beneath the grass. He peered forward and silently wished he had Neji or Hinata around. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Hey Raido! Use Kage Bunshin and run in that direction. As many as you can!" Shikamaru whispered. "And have your clones henge into all of us!"

"On my signal," he whispered to his troops. Suddenly he transformed with Henge no Jutsu into a Stone ninja. With so many hundred Stone ninja in the area, it'd be impossible to tell who was who, especially in the night. Shikamaru scampered forward and out of the grass. He ran forward about ten steps and found himself in a clearing with about 60 Stone-nin.

"Come on! They Konoha bastards are this way!" Shikamaru yelled out, running in the direction of Raido and his Bunshins. Immediately, the Stone ninja ran forward into the trap. As they ran by, the real Konoha ninja hid in the grass. Shikamaru gave them a nod. Within seconds, the massacre began as the Stone-nin were ambushed.

_**.: Back to the Kage Battle :.**_

Tsunade shot up as the jutsu began to subside. As this happened, Anshin also got up. The two were absolutely drained and all the color was lost in their faces. Under the pale moonlight, the two strongest women in the world looked like ghosts. Both had just withstood torture to the body and the mind.

"How much more do you have left?" Tsunade panted.

"Not much..." Anshin replied. The two stared across from eachother, panting. They had been under the jutsu for about an hour, but such torture had felt like days to one another.

"Did you ever think, forty years ago... we'd be fighting eachother to the death?" Anshin asked. Tsunade looked back at her.

"No I didn't... We were best friends," Tsunade whispered. The two stood in silence, staring back at each other. Tears rolled across their faces.

"I promise you it'll stay that way. No matter what. We've always been friends. Always have and always will be. But I love my village," Anshin said. Tsunade nodded in agreement. Many minutes passed.

"Fight another day?" Tsunade said finally.

"Yeah..." Anshin said. With that, the two withdrew and headed back to their respective camps. Anshin smiled as memories flooded her mind of her old friend. But she began to laugh. She could tell that she would've been defeated by Tsunade. She was severely weakened and lacked the chakra to mount any sort of defense.

_"Yup. There's a reason why I'm the greatest battle tactician in the world,"_ Anshin said, congratulating herself on forcing a stalemate.

Meanwhile Tsunade began to wonder if she'd regret the decision. It was too late now though.

_**.: Back at the Supply Camp :.**_

The battle between Kakashi and Retsu had raged for two hours. And so far, Kakashi had not been able to find a weakness. He was starting to run low on chakra as well. He decided that if the battle was going to end, he'd have to end it here. As he sized his opponent down, he began to think of a strategy. And in seconds, he thought of one. Kakashi was already Konoha's greatest genius, but combined with the Sharingan, he had the jutsus to back up any strategy he could think of.

_"When you can't find an opening," _Kakashi recited as he remembered his father's teachings. "_Create an opening._"

With this in mind, Kakashi's Sharingan glowed as he muttered, "_Mangekyou Sharingan!_"

Retsu watched Kakashi with much intrigue. But he realized that it was not the time to test Kakashi. A ninja like Hatake Kakashi could kill any man at any time, regardless of who his opponent was. He was simply that good. Retsu began to move around, realizing that Kakashi was aiming at him, but to no avail. In mere seconds, Kakashi was able to target Retsu's arm. Retsu screamed in agony as his arm simply disappeared and cut off. It began to bleed quite profusely as he dropped his mace.

In a rage, Retsu rushed forward and threw a punch at the now-fatigued Kakashi. Kakashi flew back into the walls of the encampment. His ribcage was clearly broken. But his plan was going well. As Retsu picked up the mace on the ground with his one good hand, he prepared to finish off Kakashi once and for all.

"Well, it's been fun. But I've got to go!" Kakashi muttered, pulling out a small, purple capsule from his fanny pack. In an instant, he threw it to the ground. Poisonous gas filled the area. The gas was extremely potent and seeped into Retsu's open wound. Retsu's arm felt it was on fire as he began to grow weaker.

Kakashi rushed out of the encampment as the gas was too strong. He stumbled back toward the Konoha encampment. He was not able to defeat Retsu. However, he was able to force a stalemate. The poison Retsu was absorbing would put him out of commission for several weeks. Kakashi smiled as he knew that even though he had lost the battle, he had most assuredly defeated the Stone's most powerful warrior in a game of wits.

_**.: On the Battlefield Against the Cloud :.**_

"Jiraiya-sama!" Ibiki called out.

"Yes?" Jiraiya asked as they stood atop a mountain, preparing for battle.

"The reports are in! The Stone are retreating! If we can defeat the Cloud, we can end this war!" Ibiki announced. "Not only that, Hatake Kakashi has defeated Hagane Retsu!"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow when he heard of Retsu's defeat. _"Kakashi?_" Jiraiya thought to himself. _"You've come along in the past ten years_."

"I knew Kaka-sensei would win!" Naruto burst out of seemingly nowhere. "He's the best!"

Jiraiya smiled. "Are you ready, Naruto?"

"Let's go!" Naruto said excitedly, bursting out of his tent.

Next Time

**Chapter Eleven: The Lonely Battlefield**

**Part Two of Operation Ignition**


End file.
